A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1581-1629
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Pinsell, n.2 Also: pyn-; pinset (? erroneous form). [e.m.E. pinselle (Cath. Angl.), OF. pincel (13th c. in Littré; mod. F. pinceau), med. L. (Eng.) pincellus (c 1125), -cillus (c 1400), a paint-brush: cf. Pencil(l n., Pinicill n.] a. An artist's paint-brush. b. The penis. —a. 1581 Burne Disput. 170 b.
Ane paynter vith his pinset and coloris a1605 Montg. Son. xliv. 12.
Let Mercure language to me len … To pingill Apelles pynsell with my pen 1629 Mure True Crucifixe 79.
My hand, my pinsell, let thy spirit guide 1629 Kirkcaldy Presb. 54.
The pinsell of Apelles was easilie knowne from the pinsell of a cowmon painterb. 1598 James VI Basil. Doron 174/2.
The pinsell [1599 pensel] of Priapus
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"Pinsell n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/pinsell_n_2>
