DECAL
What does "DECAL" mean?
A design or picture made to be transferred onto a surface from specially prepared paper.
Meanings
- A printed picture or sticker designed to be slid or pressed onto glass, metal, or plastic. He pressed a racing-stripe decal along the side of the model car.
Did you know?
- The everyday word 'decal' is a stub of the mouthful 'decalcomania' - literally a 'tracing-transfer craze' that swept Victorian hobbyists before the term got trimmed to one syllable per surface.
Word origin
Shortened from 'decalcomania', from French 'décalcomanie', from 'décalquer' 'to transfer a tracing' plus the suffix '-manie' 'craze'; the craft was a 19th-century fad.
Remember it
DECAL = 'de-CAL' as in 'the calc' of decalcomania, the transfer craft it was cut from.
A little poem
Peel back the film, press, and let go-
the picture stays; the paper won't show.
couplet
Wordplay
- I asked the sticker for its full name. It said 'decal' - too modest to admit it was christened 'decalcomania'.
What it teaches
The best transfers leave the image and take the backing away - keep what holds, shed what carried it.
Quick facts
What does DECAL mean?
A design or picture made to be transferred onto a surface from specially prepared paper.
Is DECAL a valid word?
Yes — DECAL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is DECAL?
DECAL has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does DECAL come from?
Shortened from 'decalcomania', from French 'décalcomanie', from 'décalquer' 'to transfer a tracing' plus the suffix '-manie' 'craze'; the craft was a 19th-century fad.
What can DECAL teach us?
The best transfers leave the image and take the backing away - keep what holds, shed what carried it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.