What does cyclostyle mean?
A cyclostyle is a duplicating machine that produces copies by cutting a stencil with a stylus on specially prepared waxed paper and then forcing ink through the cut areas onto sheets beneath. Patented in the late nineteenth century and long associated with the Gestetner company, it became a fixture of offices, schools, churches, and small organisations throughout the first half of the twentieth century, allowing cheap reproduction of newsletters, agendas, worksheets, and circulars long before the photocopier made such tasks effortless. The word can also function as a verb, meaning to produce copies by this method, as in 'she cyclostyled the handouts'. Though now largely obsolete, the term persists in British English and in nostalgic writing about mid-century office life, evoking the faintly inky smell of freshly run-off duplicates.
A duplicating machine that makes copies from a stencil cut with a stylus on waxed fibre paper.
"The secretary printed the minutes on the office cyclostyle."
Now chiefly historical; associated especially with British office life before photocopiers.
To reproduce (a document) in multiple copies using a cyclostyle or similar stencil-duplication process.
"They cyclostyled two hundred flyers for the fete."
Rarely heard today except in retrospective or period writing.
Standard plural; applies to the noun sense referring to the machines.
"The print room still had two working cyclostyles."
Before photocopiers existed, entire offices ran on the cyclostyle — a machine whose name literally combines the Greek words for 'wheel' and 'column'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cyclostyle
The word derives from Greek elements: 'kyklos', meaning wheel or circle — chosen because the original machine's stylus worked through a rotating mechanism — combined with 'stylos', meaning column or pillar. It originated as a trade name in the late nineteenth century when the duplicating process was commercialised, and like many brand names of the era it gradually became a generic term for the class of machine it described. Related English borrowings from the same Greek root include bicycle, encyclopedia (via 'enkyklios paideia'), and cycle.
How cyclostyle is actually used
Largely historical and now dated or nostalgic in tone; the term survives mainly in British usage and in accounts of pre-photocopier office life.
Easily confused with cyclostyle
A mimeograph is a rival but closely similar duplicating device; 'cyclostyle' was a specific brand name (from Gestetner) that became generic in Britain.
A cyclopedia is an encyclopedia or cyclopaedia of general knowledge, sharing only the Greek root 'kyklos' (circle) with cyclostyle.