stylus

English

Alternative forms

• stilus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stylus (“a stake or pale”). Probably not directly related to Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos, “a pillar”). Doublet of style.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstaɪ.ləs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪləs

Noun

stylus (plural styli or styluses)

1. (writing) An ancient writing implement consisting of a small rod with a pointed end for scratching letters on clay, wax-covered tablets or other surfaces, and a blunt end for obliterating them.
   • 2013 September 14, Jane Shilling, “The Golden Thread: the Story of Writing, by Ewan Clayton, review”, in The Telegraph‎^[1]:

     [T]he pleasure of writing on wax with a stylus is exemplified by the fine, flowing hand of a Roman scribe who made out the birth certificate of Herennia Gemella, born March 128 AD.

   • 2019 July 28, Rob Picheta, “Ancient Roman pen with an inscribed joke found under streets of London”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     But that tactic may have older roots than we thought; archaeologists have discovered an iron stylus in London, complete with an inscribed joke, that dates back nearly 2,000 years.
     Of 200 styluses found at a site under Bloomberg’s new European headquarters, only one – dating back to around 70 A.D. – had a message inscribed onto it.

   1. A small implement with a pointed end used for engraving and tracing.
   2. (computing) A small device resembling a pen used to input handwritten text or drawings directly into an electronic device with a touch-sensitive screen.
      • 2008, “PDA”, in Cory in the House: Instruction Booklet, Burbank, California: Disney Interactive Studios; Nintendo, page 10:

        Use the stylus to scroll up and down the list or flip through the pages left and right.

      • 2023 October 19, Mike Andronico, “Apple just revealed a new $79 Apple Pencil with USB-C — but is it right for you?”, in CNN‎^[3]:

        It’s the cheapest stylus Apple’s released yet, but you’ll need a USB-C iPad to use it.

2. A hard-pointed pen-shaped instrument for marking on stencils used in a mimeograph machine.
3. A hard point, typically of diamond or sapphire, following a groove in a phonograph and transmitting the recorded sound for reproduction.

   Synonym: needle

   1. A pointed device formerly used to produce a groove in a record when recording sound.
4. A tool for making small dots on a piece of heavy paper, used to produce Braille writing for the blind by hand.
5. (botany) Synonym of style.

Derived terms

• stylo-, styl-

Translations

tool for writing on clay tablets

• Belarusian: стыло́ n (styló)
• Bulgarian: сти́лус m (stílus)
• Catalan: estil (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 描畫針 / 描画针 (miáohuàzhēn)

• Dutch: stylus (nl) m, griffel (nl), schrijfstift
• Esperanto: grifelo
• Finnish: stilus (fi)
• French: stylet (fr) m, style (fr)
• German: Schreibgriffel m, Schreibspitze f, Stilus m
• Greek: γραφίδα (el) f (grafída)

  Ancient Greek: ἐγκεντρίς f (enkentrís)

• Hungarian: íróvessző (hu)
• Italian: stilo (it) m
• Japanese: スタイラス (ja) (sutairasu)
• Korean: 첨필(尖筆) (cheompil), 스타일러스 (seutailleoseu)
• Latin: stilus m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stylus m

  Nynorsk: stylus m

• Polish: stylus (pl) m
• Portuguese: estilo (pt) m, estilete (pt) m
• Romanian: stil (ro) n
• Russian: сти́лос m (stílos), сти́лус (ru) m (stílus), стило́ (ru) n (stiló)
• Spanish: estilo (es) m, estilete (es) m
• Ukrainian: сти́лос m (stýlos), сти́лус m (stýlus), стиль (uk) m (stylʹ), стило́ n (styló)

pen for writing on a touch-sensitive screen

• Armenian: ստիլուս (stilus)
• Bulgarian: писалка (bg) f (pisalka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 觸控筆 / 触控笔 (zh) (chùkòngbǐ), 光筆 / 光笔 (zh) (guāngbǐ)

• Czech: stylus m
• Dutch: stylus (nl) m
• Esperanto: grifelo
• Finnish: osoitinkynä (fi)
• French: stylet (fr) m
• German: Eingabestift (de) m, Stylus (de) m, Touchpen (de) m
• Greek: στυλός m (stylós)
• Italian: stilo (it) m
• Japanese: スタイラス (ja) (sutairasu)
• Korean: 스타일러스 (seutailleoseu)
• Marathi: स्टायलस (sṭāylas)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pekepenn m

  Nynorsk: peikepenn m

• Polish: rysik (pl) m inan
• Russian: сти́лос m (stílos), сти́лус (ru) m (stílus), стило́ (ru) n (stiló)
• Spanish: estilete (es) m, estilo (es) m, lápiz digital, lápiz óptico (es)
• Ukrainian: сти́лос m (stýlos), сти́лус m (stýlus)

phonograph needle

• Bulgarian: игличка f (iglička)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 唱針 / 唱针 (zh) (chàngzhēn)

• Dutch: naald (nl)
• Esperanto: nadlo
• Finnish: neula (fi)
• French: saphir (fr) m
• German: Saphir (de) m, Grammofonnadel f
• Greek: βελόνα (el) f (velóna)
• Hungarian: gramofontű (hu)
• Italian: puntina (it) f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stift (no) m

  Nynorsk: stift m

• Portuguese: safira (pt) f, agulha (pt) f
• Russian: (граммофо́нная) иго́лка (ru) f (igólka)
• Spanish: aguja (es) f

tool for writing Braille

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 盲文筆 / 盲文笔 (mángwénbǐ)

• Finnish: kirjoitusnaskali
• French: poinçon (fr) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pren m

  Nynorsk: pren m

• Portuguese: punção (pt) m
• Spanish: punzón (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} stylo (fr) m
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} stilo

See also

• light pen, lightpen

References

• “stylus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “stylus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Czech

Stylusy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈstɪlus]

Noun

stylus m inan

1. (computing) stylus (small plastic stick used as a pen for writing on the touch sensitive screen of an electronic gadget)

Declension

Declension of stylus (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	stylus	stylusy
genitive	stylusu	stylusů
dative	stylusu	stylusům
accusative	stylus	stylusy
vocative	styluse	stylusy
locative	stylusu	stylusech
instrumental	stylusem	stylusy

Noun

stylus m inan

1. (historical) stylus (instrument for writing on wax tablets)

   Alternative form: stilus

2. (botany) pedicel

Declension

Declension of stylus (hard masculine inanimate foreign)

	singular	plural
nominative	stylus	styly
genitive	stylu	stylů
dative	stylu	stylům
accusative	stylus	styly
vocative	style	styly
locative	stylu	stylech
instrumental	stylem	styly

Further reading

• “stylus”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “stylus”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “stylus”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stylus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsti.lʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sty‧lus

Noun

stylus m (plural stylussen, no diminutive)

1. stylus (sharp pen used for writing on clay tablets or wax tablets)
2. stylus (plastic stick used for interacting with touch-screen devices)

Related terms

• stylo

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsty.ɫʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈstiː.lus]

Noun

stylus m (genitive stylī); second declension

1. (proscribed) alternative form of stilus

Inflection

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	stylus	stylī
genitive	stylī	stylōrum
dative	stylō	stylīs
accusative	stylum	stylōs
ablative	stylō	stylīs
vocative	style	stylī

Descendants

• → English: style, stylus

References

• “stylus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  “stilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “stylus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  “stilus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “stylus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  “stilus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• "stylus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “stylus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  “stilus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek στῦλος (stûlos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɘ.lus/
• Rhymes: -ɘlus
• Syllabification: sty‧lus

Noun

stylus m inan

1. (historical) stylus (ancient writing implement consisting of a small rod with a pointed end for scratching letters on clay)

Declension

Declension of stylus

	singular	plural
nominative	stylus	stylusy
genitive	stylusu	stylusów
dative	stylusowi	stylusom
accusative	stylus	stylusy
instrumental	stylusem	stylusami
locative	stylusie	stylusach
vocative	stylusie	stylusy

Further reading

• stylus in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “stylus”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• stylus in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin stylus.

Noun

stylus m (plural stylus)

1. (computing) stylus (plastic stick used for interacting with touchscreen devices)
   • 2021 July 21, Juan Garzon, “Los mejores celulares Android de 2021”, in CNN en Español‎^[4]:

     Este celular tiene una hermosa pantalla, un cuerpo que es resistente al agua (IP68), su procesador Snapdragon 888 (o Exynos 2100), con 12 GB o 16 GB de RAM, ofrece una experiencia muy fluida y es el primer celular de la serie Galaxy S que es compatible con un S Pen, el stylus de Samsung.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.