easel

noun

ea·​sel ˈē-zəl 

: a frame for supporting something (such as an artist's canvas)

Illustration of easel

Examples of easel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Children will have more than enough to keep them entertained, from life-like kitchens to art easels, slides, and even costumes for mini-performances. —Danielle Pointdujour, Travel + Leisure, 1 July 2024

One of the lighthouses protrudes off the canvas; the ground shown under the easel is also rendered in brushstroke. —Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 30 June 2024

See the weird Cyclops artist drawn by one Ronald Gwinn of South Pasadena, complete with the shaggy easel and blaring lightbulb recognizable in Guston’s own late work. —Walker Mimms, New York Times, 4 June 2024

Art historian Martha Ward explores how the Impressionists, as well as other emerging art societies and artists of the time, were creating opportunities to present their art in new spaces and with new curation that favored their often-small easel paintings compared to the bombastic Salon walls. —Allison C. Meier, JSTOR Daily, 10 Apr. 2024

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

First Known Use

1596, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

easel

noun

ea·​sel ˈē-zəl 

: 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.