Pencil "plumbago" (Latin for "lead ore"). Because the pencil core is still referred to as "lead", or a "lead", many people have the misconception that the graphite in the pencil is lead, and the black core of pencils is still referred to as "lead", even though it never contained the element lead. The words for pencil in German ("bleistift"), Irish ("peann luaidhe"), Arabic (قلم رصاص "qalam raṣāṣ"), and some other languages literally mean "lead pen". The value of graphite would soon be realised to be enormous, mainly because it could be used to line the moulds for cannonballs; the mines were
Negro (lead pencil) what they call Nero pencils, which are similar in composition. Prismacolor also manufactures a lead-based black pencil that is very close in composition. Negro (lead pencil) Negro is the name of an artist's drawing medium, consisting of black pencil lead often encased in a wooden or paper tool. Its history and uses are common knowledge among illustrators and historians interested in illustrative art. The word "Negro", translates to "black" in Spanish and Italian, and is a term commonly used to describe artists' media and pigments that are black or dark in color. Negro lead was originally composed of a mixture