ea·sel

(ē′zəl)

An upright frame for displaying or supporting something, such as an artist's canvas.

[Dutch ezel, ass, from Middle Dutch esel, from Latin asellus, diminutive of asinus.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

easel

(ˈiːzəl)

(Art Terms) a frame, usually in the form of an upright tripod, used for supporting or displaying an artist's canvas, blackboard, etc

[C17: from Dutch ezel ass¹; related to Gothic asilus, German Esel, Latin asinus ass]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ea•sel

(ˈi zəl)

n.

1. a stand or frame for supporting or displaying at an angle an artist's canvas, a blackboard, etc.

2. a frame, often with adjustable masks, used to hold photographic paper flat and control borders when printing enlargements.

[1625–35; < Dutch ezel ass, easel (c. Old English esel ass) < Latin asellus, diminutive of asinus ass¹]

ea′seled, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

easel - an upright tripod for displaying something (usually an artist's canvas)

tripod - a three-legged rack used for support

Translations

حـامِل لَوحـة رسّام

staffeli

Staffelei

καβαλέτο

caballete Pintor atril

maalausteline

chevalet établi

festõállvány

málaratrönur

cavalletto marginatore

molbertas

molberts

şevalet

ressam sehpası

easel

[ˈiːzl] N → caballete m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

easel

[ˈiːz^əl] n → chevalet m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

easel

n → Staffelei f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

easel

[ˈiːzl] n → cavalletto

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

easel

(ˈiːzl) noun

a (hinged) stand for supporting a blackboard, an artist's picture etc.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Amelie rose, took an easel which stood near hers, carried it to a distance from the noble group, and placed it close to a board partition which separated the studio from the extreme end of the attic, where all broken casts, defaced canvases and the winter supply of wood were kept.

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She has something on her easel; I suppose it is one of the pictures you ordered.

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To our surprise, we were ushered into a room where the first object that met the eye was a painter's easel, with a table beside it covered with rolls of canvas, bottles of oil and varnish, palette, brushes, paints, &c.

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Philip placed an easel where she indicated, and Mrs.

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In the centre was an easel, behind which were visible a pair of trousered legs.

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'Don't be alarmed,' said Gowan, coming from his easel behind the door.

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Three great safes were ranged along one side of the wall, piles of newspapers and maps were strewn all over a long table, and a huge Ordnance map of the French and Belgian Frontiers stood upon an easel. The only occupant of the apartment was a man who was sitting before a typewriter in front of the window.

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Of his picture, the one that stood now on his easel, he had at the bottom of his heart one conviction--that no one had ever painted a picture like it.

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The furniture was the perfection of luxury and beauty; the table in the centre was bright with gaily bound books, elegant conveniences for writing, and beautiful flowers; the second table, near the window, was covered with all the necessary materials for mounting water-colour drawings, and had a little easel attached to it, which I could expand or fold up at will; the walls were hung with gaily tinted chintz; and the floor was spread with Indian matting in maize-colour and red.

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Her mother's pride in the girl's appearance led her to step back, like a painter from his easel, and survey her work as a whole.

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I had a rapid glimpse of a tiny apartment, half room, half studio, in which was nothing but a bed, canvases with their faces to the wall, an easel, a table, and a chair.

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When Simon Nishikanta, huge and gross as in the flesh he was and for ever painting delicate, insipid, feministic water- colours, when he threw his deck-chair at Scraps for clumsily knocking over his easel, he found the ham-like hand of Grimshaw so instant and heavy on his shoulder as to whirl him half about, almost fling him to the deck, and leave him lame-muscled and black-and-blued for days.

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