Pen definition | Dictionary.com

pen

1 [pen]

noun, verb, penned, pen⋅ning.

–noun

1.	any of various instruments for writing or drawing with ink or a similar substance.

2.	a detachable metal penpoint, filled by dipping or with a quill; nib.

3.	such a penpoint with its penholder.

4.	fountain pen.

5.	ball-point pen.

6.	the pen as the instrument of writing or authorship: The pen is mightier than the sword.

7.	a person's style or quality of writing: He writes with a witty, incisive pen.

8.	a writer: I leave this story to abler pens.

9.	the profession of writing: a master of the pen.

10.	stylus (def. 3).

11.

Ornithology.

a quill.

b.	a pinfeather.

12.	something resembling or suggesting a feather or quill.

13.	Zoology. an internal, corneous or chitinous, feather-shaped structure in certain cephalopods, as the squid.

–verb (used with object)

14.	to write with or as with a pen; put down in writing: to pen an essay.

15.	to draw with or as with a pen: to pen a sketch.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME penne < OF penne pen, feather < LL penna, L: feather

Related forms:

penlike, adjective

penner, noun

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pen

2 [pen]

noun, verb, penned or pent, pen⋅ning.

–noun

1.	a small enclosure for domestic animals.

2.	animals so enclosed: We have a pen of twenty sheep.

3.	an enclosure used for confinement or safekeeping: We have built several pens to hold our harvest of corn.

playpen.

bull pen.

6.	a dock having a protective concrete structure overhead, used to service and repair submarines.

–verb (used with object)

7.	to confine in or as in a pen.

Origin:
bef. 1000; (n.) ME penne, OE penn (in compounds); perh. akin to pin; (v.) ME pennen, deriv. of the n.

pen

3 [pen]

–noun Slang.

penitentiary (def. 1).

Origin:
1880–85; Americanism; shortened form

pen

4 [pen]

–noun

a female swan.

Origin:
1540–50; orig. uncert.

pen-

var. of pene- before a vowel: penannular.

Pen.

peninsula.

Also, pen.

P.E.N.

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

pene-

a combining form meaning “almost,” used in the formation of compound words: penecontemporaneous.

Also, especially before a vowel, pen-.

Origin:
< L paene-, comb. form of paene

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Pen

pen¹ (pěn)

An instrument for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid, especially:
1. A ballpoint pen.
2. A fountain pen.
3. A pen point.
4. A penholder and its pen point.
5. A quill.
An instrument for writing regarded as a means of expression: "Tyranny has no enemy so formidable as the pen" (William Cobbett).
A writer or an author: a hired pen.
A style of writing: wrote plays with a witty pen.
pens Pinions.
The chitinous internal shell of a squid.

tr.v. penned, pen·ning, pens
To write or compose with or as if with a pen.

[Middle English penne, from Old French, from Late Latin penna, from Latin, feather; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]
pen'ner n.

pen² (pěn)

1. A fenced enclosure for animals.
2. The animals kept in such an enclosure.
3. Any of various enclosures, such as a bullpen or playpen, used for a variety of purposes.
A repair dock for submarines.

tr.v. penned or pent (pěnt), pen·ning, pens
To confine in or as if in a pen. See Synonyms at enclose.

[Middle English, from Old English penn.]

pen³ (pěn)

n. A female swan.

[Origin unknown.]

pen⁴ (pěn)

n. Informal
A penitentiary; a prison.

[Short for penitentiary.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

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.]

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.]

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.

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.

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.

Language Translation for : Pen

Spanish: corral,

German: der Pferch,

Japanese: おり

More Translations »

pen (1)

"writing implement," c.1300, from O.Fr. penne "quill pen, feather," from L. penna "feather," from PIE *petna-, suffixed form of base *pet- "to rush, fly" (see petition). From the same base comes suffixed form *petra-, source of Skt. patram "wing, feather," Gk. pteron "wing," O.C.S. pero "pen," O.N. fjöðr, O.E. feðer (see feather). In later Fr., this word means only "long feather of a bird," while the equivalent of Eng. plume is used for "writing implement," the senses of the two words thus reversed from what they are in English. The verb is 1490, from the noun. Pen-pal first recorded 1938, gradually replacing earlier pen-friend (1933). Pen-and-ink (adj.) is attested from 1676.

pen (2)

"enclosure for animals," O.E. penn, penne, "enclosure," perhaps related to O.E. pinn "pin, peg" (see pin) on notion of a bolted gate or else "structure made of pointed stakes." The verb, "to enclose in a pen" is attested from c.1200. Slang noun meaning "prison" (1884) is shortening of penitentiary (q.v.), but earlier use (1845) is probably a fig. extension of this word.

PEN

In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Peruvian Nuevo Sol.

Investopedia Commentary

The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion.

See also: Currency, FOREX, Hard Currency, Money

Also spelled: PEN

pen

see slip of the lip (pen).

pen
penitentiary

PEN

International Association of Poets, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists
Peruânuevo sol (currency)

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