Pencel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpÉ›nsÉ™l/

Alternative forms

• pinsel chiefly Scottish
• pensill obsolete

Origin

From Anglo-Norman pencel, reduced form of penuncel.

Full definition of pencel

Noun

1. (now historical) A small pennon. from 13th c.
• ... forty trumpet banners of sarsenet; seven hundred and forty pensills; three hundred and fifty pensills of tarter; four standards of sarsenet with boars; ...
• 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 86:Inside Worcester Cathedral, the coffin was transferred to its hearse, a vast, storeyed, wooden structure, painted black and adorned with heraldic escutcheons, badged pennants or ‘pencels’, silk standards of St George, banners of the royal arms of England and Spain, and of Arthur's various titles, from Wales to Ponthieu in Normandy.
2. (obsolete) A lady's favour or token as worn by a knight. 15th-16th c.----