Meanings
plural crayons
- obsoleteA colored pencil, a colouring pencil
Let no day pass over you […] without giving some strokes of the pencil or the crayon.
1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLCSynonyms: pencil crayon, colouring pencil
- datedA crayon drawing, or a drawing with colored lines.
But on the wall hung two fine crayons, representing Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette — pictures which she recognized as having hung in the corridor of the Tuileries — and in front of them were burning two candles on a species of rude altar.
1885, Littell's Living Age, volume 167, page 187
present singular third person crayons · participle present crayoning · participle present rare crayonning · participle past crayoned · past crayoned · participle past rare crayonned · past rare crayonned
- ambitransitiveTo draw with a crayon.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA colored pencil, a colouring pencil
More synonyms by meaning
nounwriting implement consisting of a colored stick of composition wax used for writing and drawing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincrēta
- Frenchcraie
- Frenchcrayon
- Englishcrayon
Borrowed from French crayon (“pencil”), from craie (“chalk”) + -on (diminutive suffix), from Latin crēta (“chalk, clay”), perhaps from crētus.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian пасте́л
- пасте́л (pastél)colored chalk or wax
Catalan llapis de color
- llapis de colorcolored chalk or wax
Chinese Cantonese 蠟筆 /蜡笔
- 蠟筆 /蜡笔 (laap⁶ bat¹)colored chalk or wax
Chinese Mandarin 蠟筆 /蜡笔
- 蠟筆 /蜡笔 (làbǐ)colored chalk or wax
Czech pastelka, barevná tužka
- pastelkacolored chalk or wax
- barevná tužkacolored chalk or wax
- krajoncolored chalk or wax
Dutch waskrijt, vetkrijt
- waskrijtcolored chalk or wax
- vetkrijtcolored chalk or wax
- wascocolored chalk or wax
- kleurpotloodcolored pencil
Esperanto paŝtelo
- paŝtelocolored chalk or wax
Finnish väriliitu, värit
- väriliitucolored chalk or wax
- väritcolored chalk or wax
French pastel, craie de cire
- pastelcolored chalk or wax
- craie de cirecolored chalk or wax
German Wachsmalstift
- Wachsmalstiftcolored chalk or wax
Greek κηρομπογιά
- κηρομπογιά (kirompogiá)colored chalk or wax
Hungarian zsírkréta, pasztellkréta
- zsírkrétacolored chalk or wax
- pasztellkrétacolored chalk or wax
Indonesian krayon
- krayoncolored chalk or wax
Irish crián
- criáncolored chalk or wax
Italian pastello
- pastellocolored chalk or wax
Japanese クレヨン
- クレヨン (kureyon)colored chalk or wax
Korean 크레파스, 크레용
- 크레파스 (keurepaseu)colored chalk or wax
- 크레용 (keureyong)colored chalk or wax
Māori penehinu
- penehinucolored chalk or wax
Polish kredka, kredka woskowa
- kredkacolored chalk or wax
- kredka woskowacolored chalk or wax
- kredka świecowacolored chalk or wax
- świecówkacolored chalk or wax
Portuguese pastel, giz de cera
- pastelcolored chalk or wax
- giz de ceracolored chalk or wax
- lápis de ceracolored chalk or wax
Russian цветно́й каранда́ш, пасте́ль
- цветно́й каранда́ш (cvetnój karandáš)colored chalk or wax
- пасте́ль (pastɛ́lʹ)colored chalk or wax
Spanish creyón, crayón
- creyóncolored chalk or wax
- crayóncolored chalk or wax
- crayolacolored chalk or wax
- ceracolored chalk or wax
- pintura de ceracolored chalk or wax
Swedish krita
- kritacolored chalk or wax
Thai สีเทียน, สีชอล์ก
- สีเทียน (sǐi-tiian)colored chalk or wax
- สีชอล์ก (sǐi-chɔ́k)colored chalk or wax
Turkish pastel boya
- pastel boyacolored chalk or wax
Vietnamese viết chì màu, bút sáp
- viết chì màucolored chalk or wax
- bút sápcolored chalk or wax
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with crayon
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
crayon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crayon
“crayon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crayon. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crayon,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crayon.
Source: crayon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.