A stylus, plural styluses or styli,[1][2] is a writing utensil, or a small tool for

some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. It can also be
a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more
precision when using touchscreens. It usually refers to a narrow elongated
staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styluses are heavily curved to
be held more easily. Another widely used writing tool is the stylus used by
blind users in conjunction with the slate for punching out the dots in Braille.
[3]

Styluses were first used by the ancient Mesopotamians in order to write in

cuneiform. Egyptians (Middle Kingdom) and the Minoans of Crete (Linear A
and Cretan Hieroglyphic) made styluses in various materials: reeds that grew
on the sides of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in marshes and down to
Egypt where the Egyptians used styluses from sliced reeds with sharp points;
bone and metal styluses were also used. Cuneiform was entirely based on the
"wedge-shaped" mark that the end of a cut reed made when pushed into a
clay tablet; from Latin cuneus = wedge. The linear writings of Crete in the
first half of the second millennium BC which were made on clay tablets that
were left to dry in the sun until they became "leather" hard before being
incised by the stylus. The linear nature of the writing was also dictated by the
use of the stylus.

In Western Europe styluses were widely used until the late Middle Ages. For
learning purposes the stylus was gradually replaced by a writing slate. From
the mid-14th century improved water-powered paper mills produced large
and cheap quantities of paper and the wax tablet and stylus disappeared
completely from daily life.Etymology[edit]

Examples of 4 Medieval styluses for writing on wax tablets. Two are made of
iron, one brass and one bone stylus.
The word "stylus" (along with the word "style") comes from the Latin word
stilus meaning: "a stake; a pointed instrument, used by the Romans, for
writing upon wax tablets,"[4] which derives from the Greek word
meaning "pillar" and "stile for writing on waxed tablets."[5] A different
suggestion is that the word does not derive from the Greek word "",
but that it has a common root with the Greek verb "" (meaning "mark").
According to the 1875 London Dictionary of Greek & Roman Antiquities a
Stylus is "an object tapering like an architectural column; a metal instrument
resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing or recording

impressions upon waxed tablets. It signifies:

"An iron instrument (Ov. Met. IX.521; Martial, XIV.21), resembling a pencil in
size and shape, used for writing upon waxed tablets (Plaut. Bacch. IV.4.63;
Plin. H.N. XXXIV.14). At one end it was sharpened to a point for scratching the
characters upon the wax (Quintil. i.1 27), while the other end being flat and
circular served to render the surface of the tablets smooth again, and so to
obliterate what had been written. Thus, vertere stilum means to erase, and
hence to correct, as in the well-known precept saepe stilum vertas (Hor. Sat.
1.10.72; Cic. Verr. II.41)."

There exists minor controversy about the correct pluralization of "stylus".

Some assert that "stylus" is a direct loanword from Latin and should be
pluralised as "styli". However, "stylus" is an English word based on the Latin
word "stilus", and is more appropriately pluralised in English as "styluses".
Occasionally the pluralisation "stylii" is seen, but this is incorrect, based on
the nonexistent Latin word "stilius".[citation needed]

Use in arts[edit]
Styluses are still used in various arts and crafts. Example situations: rubbing
off dry transfer letters, tracing designs onto a new surface with carbon paper,
and hand embossing. Styluses are also used to engrave into materials like
metal or clay.

Styluses are used to make dots as found in folk art and Mexican pottery
artifacts. Oaxaca dot art is created using styluses.

Use in music recording and reproduction[edit]

A gramophone cartridge with stylus for use on vinyl records, a late use of the
stylus in audio
In the sound recording industry, a stylus is a phonograph or gramophone
needle used to play back sound on gramophone records, as well as to record
the sound indentations on the master record.

Several technologies were used to record the sounds, beginning with wax
cylinders, almost half a century before the invention of the magnetic
cartridge. Nowadays mostly vinyl records are used. When playing the record,
the stylus is placed in the grooves of the record. By then spinning the record,
the stylus start to vibrate caused by the shape of the grooves. These
vibrations are then converted by the cartridge. The harder the material used
for the record, the harder the stylus has to be in order to increase the quality
of the sound and to decrease the wear of the needle.[6] For shellac records, a
disposable stylus softer than the record was generally preferred for
preservation of the recording. The styluses for playing vinyl records are made
out of Sapphire or diamond. There are two common types of stylus: elliptical
and spherical. Each contacts the groove differently than the other; the
elliptical stylus allows for more groove contact, which increases fidelity, while
the spherical stylus makes less contact with the groove, which yields a more
sensitive stylus.

Smartphones and computing[edit]

Styluses for different PDAs

Main article: Stylus (computing)
Modern day devices, such as phones, can often be used with a stylus to
accurately navigate through menus, send messages etc. Today, the term
stylus often refers to an input tool usually used with touchscreen-enabled
devices, such as Tablet PCs, to accurately navigate interface elements, send
messages, etc. This also prevents smearing the screen with oils from one's
fingers. Styluses may also be used for handwriting; or for drawing using
graphics tablets.

As before, the stylus is pointed or rounded at one end and is made to fit in
the grip of a hand comfortably. These styluses can be found in many different
styles.

Many new phones have a built-in stylus which tucks in behind the back cover.
Some styluses may extend and contract into small, pen-like cylinders, which
are easy to put away.

Palm Rejection: Since many modern tablets make use of multi-touch

recognition, some stylus and app manufactures have created palm rejection
technologies into their products. This works to turn off the multi-touch feature
allowing the palm to rest on the tablet while still recognizing the stylus.

Scientific instruments[edit]
A stylus is also an instrument used to scribe a recording into smoked foil or
glass. In various scientific instruments this method may be employed instead
of a pen for recording as it has the advantage of being able to operate over a
wide temperature range, does not clog or dry prematurely, and has very
small friction in comparison to other methods. These characteristics were
useful in certain types of early seismographs and in recording barographs
that were once used to verify sailplane records. The styluses used in scanning
tunneling microscopes have only a single atom at the tip; these are
effectively the sharpest styluses possible.