Pen Definition

pĕn
penned, penning, pens, pent
noun
pens
Now, any of various devices used in writing or drawing with ink.
Webster's New World
Any small enclosure.
Webster's New World
A writer or an author.
A hired pen.
American Heritage
A heavy quill or feather trimmed to a split point, used for writing with ink.
Webster's New World
The pen regarded as an instrument of writing.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
verb
penned, penning, pens, pent
To confine or enclose in or as in a pen.
Webster's New World
To write with or as with a pen.
Penned verses filled with pain.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
abbreviation
Peninsula.
Webster's New World
International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists.
Webster's New World
prefix
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Pen

Noun

Singular:
pen
Plural:
pens

Origin of Pen

  • Anglo-Norman penne, from Old French penne, from Latin penna (“feather"), from Proto-Indo-European *petna-, from *pet- (“to rush, fly") (from which petition). Proto-Indo-European base also root of *petra-, from which πτερόν (pteron, “wing") (whence pterodactyl), Sanskrit पत्रम् (“wing, feather"), Old Church Slavonic перо (pero, “pen"), Old Norse fjöðr, Old English feðer (Modern English feather); note the /p/ → /f/ Germanic sound change.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English penne (“enclosure for animals"), from Old English penn (“enclosure, fold, pen") (in compounds), from Proto-Germanic *pennō, *pannijō (“pin, bolt, nail, tack"), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“pointed peg, nail, edge"). Akin to Old English pennian (“to close, lock, bolt") (in compounds onpennian (“to open")), Low German pennen (“to secure a door with a bolt"), Old English pinn (“peg, bolt"). More at pin.

    From Wiktionary

  • Sense “prison" originally figurative extension to enclosure for persons (1845), later influenced by penitentiary (“prison"), being analyzed as an abbreviation (1884).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English penne from Old French from Late Latin penna from Latin feather pet- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • See feather and πέτομαι (petomai) for more.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old English penn

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin paene (“nearly, almost”)

    From Wiktionary

  • Shortned form of penalty

    From Wiktionary

  • Short for penitentiary

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Origin uncertain.

    From Wiktionary

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