stencil

1 of 2

noun

sten·​cil ˈsten(t)-səl How to pronounce stencil (audio)
1
: an impervious material (such as a sheet of paper, thin wax, or woven fabric) perforated with lettering or a design through which a substance (such as ink, paint, or metallic powder) is forced onto a surface to be printed
2
: something (such as a pattern, design, or print) that is produced by means of a stencil
3
: a printing process that uses a stencil

stencil

2 of 2

verb

stenciled or stencilled; stenciling or stencilling ˈsten(t)-s(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce stencil (audio)

transitive verb

1
: to mark or paint with a stencil
2
: to produce by stencil
stenciler noun
or stenciller

Examples of stencil in a Sentence

Noun The walls of the living room had a delicate vine stencil drawn on them. Verb We stenciled the room's walls.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
First, the father of four showed a photo of a stencil near some tattoo equipment reading youngest son Rocky's name. Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 30 Jan. 2024 Add designs with our free stencils and a shake of powdered sugar. Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Jan. 2024 Across the street, at El Del Frente, the walls were washed white with hip stencils of bicycles and its rooftop bar was strung with lights. Moriah Balingit, Sacramento Bee, 25 Jan. 2024 Art about bodies is almost as old as the body: Some of the oldest art in the world consists of simple stencils of hands in ancient caves. Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2024 The kit, available in your choice of nine colors, includes a black pen, 15 colored pens, five reusable stencils, six sticker sheets, and six rolls of decorative washi tape (a type of slim decorative tape). Brigitt Earley, Glamour, 11 Jan. 2024 Use that to your advantage this spooky season with this spider stencil. Annie O’Sullivan, Woman's Day, 18 Aug. 2023 Simply place the stencil against your eyelid, follow the guidelines, and fill in your eyeliner. Poppy Morgan, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2023 Trace a tree onto stiff felt using a stencil; cut out. Emily Vanschmus, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Nov. 2023
Verb
On the inside of the vault is a silicon microchip stenciled with more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 Banksy, the enigmatic British street artist, stenciled his signature in the work’s lower right corner. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024 The black rubber turns out to be swaths of the fuel bladder, its white stenciled serial numbers still bright and legible. Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 22 Feb. 2024 Thank god for the local cemetery, where Lisa can pass her days stenciling the names of the dead and polishing tombstones. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024 These names will be stenciled into microchips that will be part of the spacecraft. Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 27 Nov. 2023 The work is stenciled on the lower part of the palace building, which is usually left unpainted due to splashing waves from passing boats, according to Artnet’s Adam Schrader. Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Nov. 2023 Each of his 100-plus tats was closely matched using 3D scanning, with the stenciling and coloring processes taking approximately nine weeks total. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2023 The surrealism is completed by six disembodied human hands stenciled above and below the animals. Roger Lewin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stencil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

probably ultimately from Middle English stanseld brightly ornamented, from Anglo-French estencelé spangled, past participle of estenceler to sparkle, from estencele spark, from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, alteration of Latin scintilla

First Known Use

Noun

1707, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of stencil was in 1707

Dictionary Entries Near stencil

Cite this Entry

“Stencil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stencil. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

stencil

1 of 2 noun
sten·​cil ˈsten(t)-səl How to pronounce stencil (audio)
1
: a piece of material (as a sheet of paper) with lettering or a design that is cut out and through which ink or paint is forced onto a surface to be printed
2
: a design or print produced with a stencil

stencil

2 of 2 verb
stenciled or stencilled; stenciling or stencilling
-s(ə-)liŋ
1
: to paint with a stencil
2
: to produce by a stencil

More from Merriam-Webster on stencil

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!