porte-crayon

English

Alternative forms

• port-crayon, portcrayon

Etymology

From French porte-crayon, from porter (“to carry”) + crayon (“a crayon”).

Noun

porte-crayon (plural porte-crayons)

1. (now historical) An instrument (typically a metallic tube with a clasp) used to hold a pencil, lead etc. for drawing. [from 18th c.]
   • 1992, Wendy Wassyng Roworth, Angelica Kauffman, Reaktion Books, published 1992, page 72:

     Kauffman's figure holds a porte-crayon and a tablet, on which she has sketched the allegorical image of Prudence […] .

French

Alternative forms

• portecrayon (post-1990 spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔʁ.t(ə).kʁɛ.jɔ̃/, /pɔʁ.t(ə).kʁe.jɔ̃/

• Audio (France)

  (file)

Noun

porte-crayon m (plural porte-crayons)

1. pencil holder

Further reading

• “porte-crayon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.