"lapiseira" is "mechanical pencil". It has *nothing* to do with a "pencil case" (case used to store pencils, pens and erasers), that is "estojo" in Portuguese.
I have asked in the Portuguese forum (Lapiseira = estojo) and European Portuguese speakers confirmed that meaning is not used nowadays in Portugal either. One of the answers in that thread quoted a Portuguese text from the nineteenth century which used it.I’m guessing that the 'pencil-case' sense is outdated in Brazil today since you strongly disagree with it.
Nice! AFAIK "penal" only has this meaning in some parts of the South region of Brazil. I live in the Southeast region and have never heard it here.Next I'm going to send the whole question to the editor on the Eng > Port side, where the entry for pencil case also needs to be fixed. Judging by the discussion in the forum, it seems that the following terms are all current in different regions: estojo, porta-lápis (Port.), penal (Br.).
Hi Casaleiro and Alan, thanks for letting me know about this. It was indeed incorrect to translate it as 'lapiseira'. Also, about 'penal', I´ll add that it´s a rare term.The Eng>Port editor is Brazilian, so I suppose she'll have her own views on the matter. I sent her links to both of your threads![]()