noun an instrument for writing. ·see style, ·noun, 1.
2. stylus ·noun a pen-shaped pointing device used to specify the cursor position on a graphics tablet.
3. stylus ·noun the needle-like device used to cut the grooves which record the sound on the original disc during recording of a phonograph record.
4. stylus ·add. ·noun in a photograph, a pointed piece which is moved by the vibrations given to the diaphragm by a sound, and produces the indented record; also, a pointed piece which follows the indented record, vibrates the diaphragm, and reproduces the sound.
5. stylus ·noun that needle-shaped part at the tip of the playing arm of phonograph which sits in the groove of a phonograph record while it is turning, to detect the undulations in the phonograph groove and convert them into vibrations which are transmitted to a system (since 1920 electronic) which converts the signal into sound; also called needle. the stylus is frequently composed of metal or diamond.