Editing Stylus (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Stylus.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Four examples of medieval styluses for writing on [[wax tablet]]s. Two are made of iron, one brass and one bone stylus.]]
''Stylus'' comes from the [[Latin]] {{Lang|la|stilus}}—the spelling ''stylus'' arose from an erroneous connection with Greek {{Lang|grc-latn|stylos}} ({{lang|grc|στύλος}}), 'pillar'.<ref name=OLD-stilus>''[[Oxford Latin Dictionary]]'', s.v. "stilus" (2012).</ref>

The Latin word had several meanings, including "a long, sharply pointed piece of metal; the stem of a plant; a pointed instrument for incising letters; the stylus (as used in literary composition), 'pen{{'"}}.<ref name=OLD-stilus/> The last meaning is the origin of ''[[Writing style|style]]'' in the literary sense. The Latin word is probably derived from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] root {{Lang|ine-x-proto|stei-}} 'to prick', also found in the words {{Lang|la|stimulus}} 'a goad, stimulus' and {{Lang|la|instigare}} 'to incite, instigate'.<ref>''Oxford Latin Dictionary'', s.v. "stimulus" (2012).</ref>