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

Bookshelves and a Persian-style rug share space with toy trucks, a purple plastic kitchen, and an easel with a basketball hoop attached to its back. — Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026

There are also two walking trails leading from the train to Bridal Veil Falls, and art easels are set up along the way with recreations of paintings created by the Group of Seven (a prolific group of Canadian landscape artists). — Maryam Siddiqi, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026

Nearby, there’s a piece taking aim at Philip Guston, whose 1969 painting The Studio, featuring a Klansman at an easel, has been given the AI treatment. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Jewelry sat on and among a sink, chair, cabinet, artist easel, and smaller domestic objects coated in the blue carving wax Vernon uses in the workshop. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 21 Sep. 2026

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

Rhymes for easel

• weasel
• biodiesel

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.