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pencilyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[pencil 词源字典]
pencil: [14] Etymologically, a pencil is a ‘little penis’. It originally denoted a ‘paintbrush’ – the current sense ‘writing implement filled with a graphite rod’ did not emerge until the 17th century – and came via Old French pincel from Vulgar Latin *pēnicellum, an alteration of Latin pēnicillum ‘paintbrush’. This was a diminutive form of pēniculus ‘brush’, which was in turn a diminutive of pēnis. Pēnis originally meant ‘tail’ (whence the metaphor of the ‘brush’), and only by extension was it used for ‘male sex organ’ (in which sense English adopted it as penis [17]).

The term penicillin [20] was based on Latin pēnicillum, in allusion to the tuft-like shape of its spore-bearing structures.

=> penicillin, penis[pencil etymology, pencil origin, 英语词源]