The term easel (meaning “wooden frame”) was adopted in the early seventeenth century from the Dutch word ezel, which translates to “donkey”. The association with donkeys carrying a burden and paintings being placed on a stand led to this definition. Ezel originated from Middle Dutch esel and Proto-Germanic asil, which can be traced back to Latin asellus, a variant of asinus that also gave rise to the English words ass and asinine. The exact origin of asinus remains uncertain, with theories suggesting it may come from Proto-Indo-European agros (“field”) or a non-IE loanword. The usage of the term easel in literature has remained consistent since the 1800s, with Google searches peaking every December.
