1570s, "dust brush for clothes," agent noun from dust (v.). Meaning "sifter, fine sieve" is from 1660s; that of "light overcoat or wrap worn to keep off dust from clothing" is from 1864.
tuft of hairs on a bee's leg, 1802, from Latin scopae (plural) "twigs, shoots; a broom, brush," which is related to scapus "shaft," which perhaps is cognate with Greek skapos "staff," skēptron "staff, scepter" (see scepter).
late 13c. (in compounds), "that with which something is painted, a substance used in painting," from paint (v.) or from the derived noun in Old French. Of rouge, makeup, etc., from 1650s. Paint-brush "brush for applying paints" is attested from 1827. Paint-box "box with compartments for holding different paints" is by 1725.
It differs from a dye in that it is not designed to sink into the substance to which it is applied, but to form a superficial coating. The term pigment is sometimes restricted to the dry coloring material of which a paint is made. [Century Dictionary]
c. 1500, pencellen, "apply (gold or silver) in manuscript illustration;" 1530s, "to mark or sketch with a pencil-brush," from pencil (n.). In reference to lead pencils from 1760s. Related: Penciled; penciling. To pencil (something) in in the figurative sense of "arrange tentatively" (on the notion of being erasable) is attested by 1942.
mid-15c., "the color green" (especially in heraldry), also "trees and brush bearing green leaves" (in forest law), from Anglo-French and Old French vert "foliage, greenery, green cloth," from Latin viridem, viridis "green" (see verdure).
late 14c., "quick stroke, sweeping movement," probably from Old Norse visk "wisp of hay, something to sweep with," from Proto-Germanic *wisk- "move quickly" (source also of Danish visk "broom," Middle Dutch wisch, Dutch wis, Old High German wisc, German wisch "wisp, brush"), from PIE root *weis- "to turn, twist" (source also of Sanskrit veskah "noose," Czech vechet "a wisp of straw," Old English wiscian "to plait," weoxian "to clean" with a whisk or brush). Unetymological spelling with wh- is from 1570s. Meaning "implement for beating eggs, etc." first recorded 1660s.
1710, "affected with 'the scratch,'" a skin disease (a sense now obsolete), from scratch (n.1) + -y (2). In reference to pen- or brush-work, "composed of scratches," by 1827, hence "ragged, rough, irregular." The sense of "grating" is by 1866. Of sounds (especially in recorded reproduction) by 1889. Related: Scratchiness.
late 15c., "move with a rapid sweeping motion" (intransitive), from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish viske "to wipe, rub, sponge," Norwegian, Swedish viska "wipe," also "wag the tail"), from the source of whisk (n.). Transitive sense is from 1510s; meaning "to brush or sweep (something) lightly over a surface" is from 1620s. Related: Whisked; whisking.
