Styluses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device used for writing or marking, often on a touchscreen or paper
2. A pointed tool designed for inscribing or creating impressions on surfaces
3. Plural of an implement utilized for drawing or interacting with digital screens

Etymology: "Styluses" is the plural of "stylus," a pointed tool used for writing, and it is also the form that English speakers use most often when they mean more than one. The singular comes straight from Latin "stylus," which meant a stake or pale, a pointed piece of wood or metal. The same Latin word gave the Romans their writing implement, a pointed rod used to scratch letters into wax-covered tablets, with the flat end used to smooth the wax for erasing. The word is a doublet of "style," which came into English through Old French from the same Latin source. Both words kept the sense of a sharp, pointed instrument, so the link between a pointed rod and a manner of writing is not far to seek: a writer's characteristic way of composing was, in a sense, the mark left by their instrument.

Synonyms: styli, pens, writing instruments, scribing tools, markers