: a frame for supporting something (such as an artist's canvas)
Illustration of easel
Examples of easel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebIn the Noël Coward suite, charming landscape oils by the playwright, actor and composer hang on walls and are propped on an easel.—Jane Margolies, New York Times, 8 May 2024 Still, Buckingham Palace kept with tradition by posting the official birth announcement on an easel near the palace gates for the public to view.—Audrey Schmidt, Peoplemag, 2 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for easel
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'easel.' 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
borrowed from Dutch ezel, literally, "donkey," going back to Middle Dutch esel, going back to Germanic *asil- (whence Old Saxon & Old High German esil "donkey," Old English esol, eosol, Gothic asilus), altered from Latin asinus — more at ass entry 1
: a frame for supporting something (as an artist's canvas)
Etymology
from Dutch ezel "a frame to hold an artist's canvas," literally, "donkey"
Word Origin
An easel is a frame for holding up such things as an artist's painting or a chalkboard. In the 17th century the Dutch had become famous throughout Europe for their oil painting. Thus it was their word ezel, which they used to refer to this piece of equipment, that was borrowed into English around that time. This sense of ezel was an extension of the original meaning "donkey," probably because an easel, like a beast of burden, is used to hold things.
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