Stencil
/ˈstɛn.səl/noun
A thin sheet or template with cut-out letters or designs used to reproduce a pattern.
Did you know?Stencil comes from a word for a stained-glass window, ultimately tied to the same Latin root as *stone*, because the earliest sense was about the colored panes set into stone churchwork.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*steh₂-
“to stand, set, place”
Latin
Latin
stāre
“to stand”
Late Latin
Latin
stannum
“tin; by later influence, a term associated with stained or colored glass in medieval usage”
Old French
Old French
estenceler
“to sparkle, glitter”
Middle English
English
stincle / stensil
“a stained-glass window or colored glass”
Modern English
English
stencil
“a template with cut-out letters or shapes used for reproducing a design”