STYLUS

[sty.lus] n, pl sty.li also sty.lus.es [L stylus, stilus spike, stylus--more at style] (1807): 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 positional information (as from a graphics tablet) into a computer