n.
Pronunciation: ' st ī -l ə s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural sty · li \ ' st ī (- ə )- ˌ l ī \ also sty · lus · es \ ' st ī -l ə -s ə z \
Etymology: Latin stylus, stilus spike, stylus ― more at STYLE
Date: 1773
: an instrument for writing, marking, or incising: as a : an instrument used by the ancients in writing on clay or waxed tablets b : a hard-pointed pen-shaped instrument for marking on stencils used in a reproducing machine c (1) : NEEDLE 3C (2) : a cutting tool used to produce an original record groove during disc recording d : a pen-shaped pointing device used for entering data (as positional information from a graphics tablet) into a computer