pastello

crayon, pastel

noun pah-STEL-loh Rare

Origin: From French pastel, ultimately from Late Latin pastellus (woad paste used as dye).

Also means

pastel color

Usage Note

Pastello covers both the drawing tool (a wax crayon or chalk stick) and the soft, washed-out color it produces. As an invariable adjective it describes muted hues: colori pastello, rosa pastello. Distinguish it from matita (pencil) and pennarello (felt-tip marker). The plural pastelli refers to the tools.

Examples

"I bambini dipingono con i pastelli."

Natural Translation

The children are drawing with crayons.

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