Crayon

Crayon (Fr., 'a pencil'). Though used in French, and occasionally in English, to designate pencils generally, including those made of lead, the word crayon is more frequently applied in England to those small cylinders of charcoal, or of pipe-clay or chalk coloured with various pigments, which are used for drawing. Cohesiveness is given to the paste of which the cylinders are formed by means of gum, wax, soap, &c. Crayon drawings are often remarkable for the delicacy and softness with which objects are represented, but they are deficient in power. See PENCIL, CHALK.