51Թ

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pastel

1

[ pa-stel; especially British pas-tl ]

noun

  1. a color having a soft, subdued shade.
  2. a kind of dried paste made of pigments ground with chalk and compounded with gum water.
  3. a chalklike crayon made from such paste.
  4. the art of drawing with such crayons.
  5. a drawing so made.
  6. a short, light prose study or sketch.


adjective

  1. having a soft, subdued shade.
  2. drawn with pastels:

    a pastel portrait.

pastel

2

[ pas-tel ]

noun

  1. the woad plant.
  2. the dye made from it.

pastel

/ pæˈstɛl; ˈpæstəl /

noun

    1. a substance made of ground pigment bound with gum, used for making sticks for drawing
    2. a crayon of this
    3. a drawing done in such crayons
  1. the medium or technique of pastel drawing
  2. a pale delicate colour
  3. a light prose work, esp a poetic one
  4. another name for woad
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. (of a colour) pale; delicate

    pastel blue

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈ貹ٱ, noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of pastel1

First recorded in 1610–20; from French, from Italian pastello, from Late Latin pastellus, variant of Latin pastillus pastille

Origin of pastel2

First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French pastel “woad,” from ʰDZç, from Medieval Latin pastellum (neuter) “woad” (originally “woad paste”), for Late Latin pastellus (masculine), diminutive of pasta paste
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of pastel1

C17: via French from Italian pastello, from Late Latin pastellus woad compounded into a paste, diminutive of pasta paste 1
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"Let's say you go around your whole life and you see only pink, baby pink, a pastel pink," he said.

From

The baby blue, pink, lavender and mint green pastel bags are part of the store’s latest spring drop.

From

James Roybal, a native of Santa Fe, once signed up for a pastel painting class in the 1980s and when he arrived Hackman was also there.

From

The cartoon ditches Michael Bay’s greasy hormonal Earthlings to zoom back to the robots’ home planet of Cybertron, gorgeously rendered in the perfectly lighted pastels of an old Soviet sci-fi movie.

From

Away from the from springtime pastels and prints, Alessandro Michele's debut couture collection was full of clashing colours and harlequin print fit for a court jester.

From

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