noun / verb
stencil
STEN-sul/ˈstensl/
A template with openings through which a pattern is applied to a surface.
The leaf-shaped stencil creates matching green patterns on the paper.
Etymology
The cutout-template sense is recorded in playing-card manufacture. An older theory tentatively connects the word with a verb meaning “decorate with bright colors,” but that ancestry is not established.
In context
stencils in the form of blazons or badges or drawings could be stuck on the skin of the fruit after 10 days of sunning the stencil leave their trace on the skin
More examples
- We stencil stars along the top of the wall.
- He stenciled the address onto the mailbox.
- Wash the paint off the stencils before it dries.
Forms
stencil · stencils · stenciled · stenciling