Adjacent Words

Pen definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PEN, n. [L. penna; pinna, a fin, that is, a shoot or point.]
1. An instrument used for writing, usually made of the quill of some large fowl, but it may be of any other material.
2. A feather, a wing. [Not used.]
PEN, v.t. pret. and pp. penned. To write; to compose and commit to paper.
PEN, n. A small inclosure for beasts, as for cows or sheep.
PEN, v.t. pret. and pp. penned or pent. To shut in a pen; to confine in a small inclosure; to coop; to confine in a narrow place, usually followed by up, which is redundant.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a writing implement with a point from which ink flows
2: an enclosure for confining livestock
3: a portable enclosure in which babies may be left to play [syn: playpen, pen]
4: a correctional institution for those convicted of major crimes [syn: penitentiary, pen]
5: female swan v
1: produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels" [syn: write, compose, pen, indite]

Merriam Webster's

abbreviation International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (penned; penning) Etymology: Middle English pennen, from Old English -pennian Date: 13th century to shut in or as if in a pen II. noun Etymology: Middle English, perhaps from pennen Date: 14th century 1. a. a small enclosure for animals b. the animals in a pen <a pen of sheep> 2. a small place of confinement or storage 3. a protected dock or slip for a submarine 4. bull pen 2 III. noun Etymology: Middle English penne, from Anglo-French, feather, pen, from Latin penna, pinna feather; akin to Greek pteron wing — more at feather Date: 14th century 1. an implement for writing or drawing with ink or a similar fluid: as a. quill b. pen point c. a penholder containing a pen point d. fountain pen e. ballpoint 2. a. a writing instrument regarded as a means of expression <enlisted the pens of the best writers — F. H. Chase> b. writer 3. the internal horny feather-shaped shell of a squid 4. stylus d IV. transitive verb (penned; penning) Date: 15th century write, indite <pen a letter> V. noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: circa 1550 a female swan VI. noun Date: 1884 penitentiary VII. abbreviation peninsula

Oxford Reference Dictionary

abbr. International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 an instrument for writing or drawing with ink, orig. consisting of a shaft with a sharpened quill or metal nib, now more widely applied. 2 a (usu. prec. by the) the occupation of writing. b a style of writing. 3 Zool. the internal feather-shaped cartilaginous shell of certain cuttlefish, esp. squid. --v.tr. (penned, penning) 1 write. 2 compose and write. Phrases and idioms: pen and ink n. 1 the instruments of writing. 2 writing. pen-and-ink adj. drawn or written with ink. pen-feather a quill-feather of a bird's wing. pen-friend a friend communicated with by letter only. pen-light a small electric torch shaped like a fountain-pen. pen-name a literary pseudonym. pen-pal colloq. = pen-friend. pen-pusher colloq. derog. a clerical worker. pen-pushing colloq. derog. clerical work. put pen to paper begin writing. Etymology: ME f. OF penne f. L penna feather 2. n. & v. --n. 1 a small enclosure for cows, sheep, poultry, etc. 2 a place of confinement. 3 an enclosure for sheltering submarines. 4 a Jamaican farm or plantation. --v.tr. (penned, penning) (often foll. by in, up) enclose or shut in a pen. Etymology: OE penn, of unkn. orig. 3. n. a female swan. Etymology: 16th c.: orig. unkn. 4. n. US sl. = PENITENTIARY n. 1. Etymology: abbr.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pen Pen, n. [From Pen to shut in.] A small inclosure; as, a pen for sheep or for pigs. My father stole two geese out of a pen. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pen Pen, n. [OE. penne, OF. penne, pene, F. penne, fr. L. penna.] 1. A feather. [Obs.] --Spenser. 2. A wing. [Obs.] --Milton. 3. An instrument used for writing with ink, formerly made of a reed, or of the quill of a goose or other bird, but now also of other materials, as of steel, gold, etc. Also, originally, a stylus or other instrument for scratching or graving. Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock. --Job xix. 24. 4. Fig.: A writer, or his style; as, he has a sharp pen. ``Those learned pens.'' --Fuller. 5. (Zo["o]l.) The internal shell of a squid. 6. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zo["o]l.) A female swan. [Prov. Eng.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bow pen. See Bow-pen. Dotting pen, a pen for drawing dotted lines. Drawing, or Ruling, pen, a pen for ruling lines having a pair of blades between which the ink is contained. Fountain pen, Geometric pen. See under Fountain, and Geometric. Music pen, a pen having five points for drawing the five lines of the staff. Pen and ink, or pen-and-ink, executed or done with a pen and ink; as, a pen and ink sketch. Pen feather. A pin feather. [Obs.] Pen name. See under Name. Sea pen (Zo["o]l.), a pennatula. [Usually written sea-pen.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pen Pen, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penned; p. pr. & vb. n. Penning.] To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to compose; as, to pen a sonnet. ``A prayer elaborately penned.'' --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pen Pen, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pennedor Pent (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Penning.] [OE. pennen, AS. pennan in on-pennan to unfasten, prob. from the same source as pin, and orig. meaning, to fasten with a peg.See Pin, n. & v.] To shut up, as in a pen or cage; to confine in a small inclosure or narrow space; to coop up, or shut in; to inclose. ``Away with her, and pen her up.'' --Shak. Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pens, penning, penned) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A pen is a long thin object which you use to write in ink. ballpoint pen: see ballpoint felt-tip pen: see felt-tip N-COUNT see also fountain pen 2. If someone pens a letter, article, or book, they write it. (FORMAL) She penned a short memo to his private secretary. VERB: V n to n, also V n n 3. A pen is also a small area with a fence round it in which farm animals are kept for a short time. ...a holding pen for sheep... = enclosure N-COUNT see also playpen 4. If people or animals are penned somewhere or are penned up, they are forced to remain in a very small area. ...to drive the cattle back to the house so they could be milked and penned for the night... I don't have to stay in my room penned up like a prisoner. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, V-ed up

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(`et, cheret; kalamos): The first writing was done on clay, wax, lead or stone tablets by scratching into the material with some hard pointed instrument. For this purpose bodkins of bronze, iron, bone or ivory were used (Job 19:24; Isa 8:1; Jer 17:1). In Jer 17:1 a diamond is also mentioned as being used for the same purpose. In Jer 36 Baruch, the son of Neriah, declares that he recorded the words of the prophet with ink in the book. In Jer 36:23 it says that the king cut the roll with the penknife (literally, the scribe's knife). This whole scene can best be explained if we consider that Baruch and the king's scribes were in the habit of using reed pens. These pens are made from the hollow jointed stalks of a coarse grass growing in marshy places. The dried reed is cut diagonally with the penknife and the point thus formed is carefully shaved thin to make it flexible and the nib split as in the modern pen. The last operation is the clipping off of the very point so that it becomes a stub pen. The Arab scribe does this by resting the nib on his thumb nail while cutting, so that the cut will be clean and the pen will not scratch. The whole procedure requires considerable skill. The pupil in Hebrew or Arabic writing learns to make a pen as his first lesson. A scribe carries a sharp knife around with him for keeping his pen in good condition, hence, the name penknife. The word used in 3 Joh 1:13 is kalamos, "reed," indicating that the pen described above was used in John's time (compare qalam, the common Arabic name for pen).

See INK; INK-HORN; WRITING.

Figurative: "Written with a pen of iron," i.e. indelibly (Jer 17:1). "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer" (Ps 45:1; compare Jer 36:18). As the trained writer records a speech, so the Psalmist's tongue impresses or engraves on his hearers' minds what he has conceived.

James A. Patch

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Write, compose, indite, commit to paper, inscribe. 2. Encage, coop, confine, enclose, impound, imprison, incarcerate, shut up, shut in, hem in, wall in, rail in. II. n. Enclosure, pinfold, pound, sty, coop, penfold.

Moby Thesaurus

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