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单词 pen
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penn.1

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Forms: Old English–early Middle English penn, late Old English pæn, early Middle English penne, 1600s– pen.
Origin: A borrowing from Welsh. Etymons: Welsh pen, Cornish pen, pedn, Breton penn.
Etymology: < the Brittonic base of Old Welsh, Welsh pen head, headland, Old Cornish pen (Cornish pedn), Old Breton, Breton penn < the same Celtic base as Early Irish (in an ogham inscription) qen-, Early Irish cenn (Irish ceann), Gaulish penno- (in a personal name); further etymology unknown.
Now British regional.
A hill, a top, a height. In Cornwall, Wales, and some other parts of Britain also spec.: a promontory, a head.After the 12th cent. chiefly in place names, frequently (esp. in Cornwall) as the first element, as Penzance, Penmaenmawr, Penrith, etc., or (esp. in southern Scotland) as a separate word, as Eskdalemuir Pen, Ettrick Pen, Lee Pen, etc. N.E.D. (1904) interpreted penn in quot. c1155 as an example of pen n.2, however, the locality referred to is Pen Hill, Somerset.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun]
cloudc893
downOE
hillc1000
penOE
holmc1275
woldc1275
clotc1325
banka1393
knotc1400
nipc1400
rist1577
kop1835
OE Bounds (Sawyer 1003) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 204 Of sand holcan anglang strete on blacan penn.
c1155 ( Bounds (Sawyer 661) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Bath & Wells (2007) 111 Þonne eft ærost on þa ealdan lanan to horpytton upp on epenn [read one penn], of þam penne on hean æsc.
1327 in J. E. B. Gover et al. Place-names Wilts. (1939) 33 John atte Penne [i.e. Pen Hill].
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 55 Most of them begin with Tre, Pol, or Pen, which signifie a Towne, a Top, and a head: whence grew the common by-word By Tre, Pol, and Pen, You shall know the Cornishmen.]
1603 G. Owen Descr. Penbrokshire (1892) i. 4 From Kemes head called Pen Kemes pointe North, to St. Gouens pointe in the Southe.
1775 M. J. Armstrong Compan. Map of Peebles 49 Hills are as variously named..as Law, Pen, Kipp, Coom, Dod, Craig, Fell [etc.].
1775 M. J. Armstrong Compan. Map of Peebles 48 Lee Pen, is a high and pointed hill, of a pyramidical shape.
1871 H. S. Riddell Poet. Wks. II. 202 He lorded it wide o'er the Pen o' Skelfhill.
1890 J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester (at cited word) I live just under the Pen to which Pen lane leads.
2003 Express & Echo (Exeter) (Nexis) 7 Aug. 16 Toby never gets lost. He always knows where he is and how to get back to Pen Hill Farm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

penn.2

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Forms: early Middle English pinne, Middle English peny (probably transmission error), Middle English peyn, Middle English pin, Middle English–1600s penne, Middle English– pen, 1600s pend, 1600s– penn (now chiefly in sense 4).
Origin: Of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps < a variant (with different ablaut grade) of the Germanic base of pin n.1, denoting a space enclosed by a pegged or bolted gate. Perhaps compare German regional (Low German: Bremen) pennen , (Low German: Dithmarschen) topannen , both in sense ‘to bolt (a door)’, and (Low German: Bremen) penn pin, peg (see peen n.). Compare pen v.1In the Old English charter evidence, the word is very difficult to distinguish from pen n.1; many examples formerly thought to be of this word are now interpreted as representing pen n.1 (compare quots. s.v.); other examples remain ambiguous, compare:OE Bounds (Sawyer 1547) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 217 Of ruwan beorge on fyrs penn, of fyrs penne on wyrt cumes heafod.lOE Bounds (Sawyer 763) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 498 And lang þæra heafda on etta penn.a1170 ( Bounds (Sawyer 705) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 323 Þonne on Ættenpen [a1225 æt den pæn] on þone ellen styb. Only examples which have been positively identified as main sense by recent editors have been accepted below. Apparently attested earlier in place names, as Chelpin (1086), Kilpin (1199), Celepene (c1200 in a copy of a charter of 959), apparently ‘calf pen’, now Kilpin, East Riding, Yorkshire; Hagenepene, Hagepinne (1086), Haghenepenne (1221), Haunepenne (1241), now Hampen, Gloucestershire.
1.
a. A small enclosure in which cows, sheep, pigs, poultry, or other animals are kept; a fold, sty, coop, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal enclosure or house general > [noun] > enclosure > fold or pen
folda700
lockeOE
pen1227
foldingc1440
pend1542
cub1548
hull1570
corral1582
boolya1599
ree1674
crew1681
reeve1720
stell1766
pound1779
kraal1796
fank1812
poundage1866
forcing-yard1890
1227 ( Bounds (Sawyer 1033) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 211 Þonne adun onstream oð rean clif, þanon oð hæð pen suþewardne on þone holan stoc.
a1300 Bounds (Sawyer 1586) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 387 Et ab illo loco, usque la pinne, vel penne, et ab eodem, usque crokrigge.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 322 (MED) Haf hallez þerinne [sc. the ark] and halkez ful mony, Boþe boskez and bourez and wel bounden penez.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxv Bynde her heed with a hey rope or a corde to the syde of the penne.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Eiiiv/1 A Penne, or coup, caula.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iii. iv. 40 Tel..how my Father stole two Geese out of a Pen . View more context for this quotation
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xiii. 369 Making of a large pen to drive the Cattle into.
1726 J. Thomson Winter 10 Now, Shepherds..fill their Penns With Food, at will.
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 230 They are forced to feed them in small penns.
1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. vi. 93 They will wake up all the sheep in the pens for a mile round.
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee xxiii. 289 About two hundred yards off..we built a pen of scantlings.
1903 Westm. Gaz. 2 Oct. 2/1 On some French estates the partridges are confined in large pens.
1959 Cape Argus 31 Oct. 9/7 Boomslangs, skaapstekers, ringhals, cobras and an Egyptian cobra—from Rhodesia—are kept in their special pens on Mr. Wood's farm.
2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 5 Oct. w20 A few cows chew their cud in a pen beside the farmhouse.
b. A number of animals in a pen, or sufficient to fill a pen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > herd or flock > of domestic animals > in a pen
pen1854
1854 Poultry Chron. 1 43/2 This doubtless arises from the same cause which exists when first-prize pens only are purchased for breeding-stock by a wealthy beginner.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xii Father opened his eyes at the price the first pen brought.
1904 Daily News 2 July 6 Her fowls were a pen of pure Minorcas and a pen of Plymouth Rocks.
1996 Herald (Glasgow) 31 May 28/4 Lambs sold to a top of 159p per kilo for a pen of texels.
c. Australian and New Zealand. A division in a sheep-shearing shed. Hence in extended use: the amount of shearing this represents; a job as a shearer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > sheep-shearing > [noun] > shearing-shed > part of
skillion1846
pen1879
1879 ‘Australian’ Adventures in Queensland 113 There was a pen in front of the shearing-floor, holding from thirty to sixty sheep, according to the number of shearers.
1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xxix. 381 On the outside of the smaller pens, and near to the outer side-walls the shearers are placed.
1900 H. Lawson Verses Pop. & Humorous 168 The shearers squint along the pens, they squint along the ‘shoots’.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. iii. 65 A shearer gets a cut (it is also called a stand or pen) when he is employed.
1965 Austral. Encycl. VIII. 86/2 The fortunate ones ‘got their pen’ at the commencement of a shearing whilst the others moved on in the hope of getting work at some other station.
1989 J. Conway Road from Coorain (1990) iii. 44 A count-out for a full pen of shorn animals (anything that would speed the shearers at their piece work).
2. A section of a river or canal kept artificially deep, so as to form a head of water for a mill, etc. Also: a lock. Now rare and historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water > contrivance for impounding water
stopping1575
pen1585
stop1585
water stop1585
stank1604
headinga1641
stanch1767
stop-back1790
penhead1805
keep1847
stanking1883
1585 Act 27 Eliz. c. 19 Such old and former Bayes or Pens whereupon hath lately beene..standing some iron milles.
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. H2/1 Baye or penne [1672 penn] is a pond head made vp of a great heith, to keep in a great quantitie or store of water.
1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 58 Any Sluice, Dock-Gates, Dam, or Penn of Water.
1791 Rep. Comm. Thames-Isis Navigation 15 At the lower End of this Channel there is a Pen formed by a Swing Stride and Flood Gates.
1805 Z. Allnutt Consid. on Navigation Thames 43 The Banks are sufficiently high to admit of Four Feet pen without overflowing Lands.
1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 140 There is a pen at the mouth of the Hull.
1968 D. D. Gladwin & J. M. White Eng. Canals ii. ii. 33 (caption) Lock or pen.
2003 Kent & Sussex Courier (Nexis) 8 Aug. 13 When the mill owners held the flow in ‘pens’ upstream to keep power available the Medway at Tonbridge was little better than an open sewer.
3.
a. A place in which a person or persons may be confined; spec. (originally U.S.) a prison cell, a prison.In the United States the use is often indistinguishable from pen n.5
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun]
quarternOE
prisona1200
jailc1275
lodgec1290
galleya1300
chartrea1325
ward1338
keepingc1384
prison-house1419
lying-house1423
javel1483
tollbooth1488
kidcotec1515
clinkc1530
warding-place1571
the hangman's budget1589
Newgate1592
gehenna1594
Lob's pound1597
caperdewsie1599
footman's inn1604
cappadochio1607
pena1640
marshalsea1652
log-house1662
bastille1663
naskin1673
state prison1684
tronk1693
stone-doublet1694
iron or stone doublet1698
college1699
nask1699
quod1699
shop1699
black hole1707
start1735
coop1785
blockhouse1796
stone jug1796
calaboose1797
factory1806
bull-pen1809
steel1811
jigger1812
jug1815
kitty1825
rock pile1830
bughouse1842
zindan1844
model1845
black house1846
tench1850
mill1851
stir1851
hoppet1855
booby hatch1859
caboose1865
cooler1872
skookum house1873
chokey1874
gib1877
nick1882
choker1884
logs1888
booby house1894
big house1905
hoosegow1911
can1912
detention camp1916
pokey1919
slammer1952
joint1953
slam1960
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > [noun] > an enclosed space or place > an enclosed piece of ground
hawc825
towneOE
purprisea1275
hainc1275
wick1301
cerne1393
firmancea1522
haining1535
haya1640
pena1640
park1658
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Double Marriage v. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Fffffv/2 He's taken to the Towers strength... We have him in a pen, he cannot scape us.
1755 C. Charke Narr. Life 218 I had not been in the Pen Five Minutes before I was call'd upon to receive a Letter of Comfort to myself and Friends.
1845 W. G. Simms Wigwam & Cabin (1846) 2nd Ser. 93 Laughter..ceased on my part, as I got in sight of the ‘pen’ in which I was to be kept secure.
1853 F. W. Thomas John Randolph & Other Sketches 286 If I had not caught him in Baltimore..and put him in the pen there for debt, I never should have got the money.
1889 T. C. Crawford Eng. Life i. v. 57 The place [in the House of Lords] where visitors were allowed to go was a little pen at the left of the entrance.
1904 N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 10 May 2 A panic was caused among the prisoners in the pen of the Ewen Street Police Court jail.
1924 R. Macaulay Orphan Island i. 1 There were a number of little walled pens for the more juvenile orphans, in which they sat and disported themselves with bricks, rattles, dolls, [etc.].
1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 16 Jan. 40/2 By the novel's end he is about to shoot a peculiarly repulsive old enemy, an act which will certainly land him in the pen again.
b. Any enclosure or demarcated area, usually fenced or railed and serving to contain, store, or safeguard something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > family Cervidae (deer) > [noun] > place frequented by
saltary1598
form1799
pen1829
yard1829
saltory1867
saltatory1903
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Bouchots, a penn, or place enclosed by hurdles, for fishing on the sea-coast.
1829 T. C. Haliburton Hist. & Statist. Acct. Nova-Scotia II. ix. 392 In winter they [sc. the moose-deer]..describe a circle, and press the snow with their feet, until it becomes hard, which is called by hunters a yard, or pen.
1873 G. C. Davies Mountain, Meadow & Mere v. 38 Put them into the penns made within the bow of a net.
1888 E. Eggleston Graysons xxx. 326 Building some rail pens to hold the corn when it should be gathered and shucked.
1970 Canad. Geogr. Jrnl. Oct. 115/1 The captured fish are spilled into pens to be stored, dressed, washed and iced for storage in the hold.
1994 Buses Feb. 18/2 We..modified the interior to provide a large luggage pen behind the driver.
4. Frequently in form penn. In Jamaica and, formerly, in some southern U.S. states: a large country estate, as a farm, plantation, etc.; a farmhouse set in such grounds; a country house. Now chiefly Jamaican.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > [noun] > estate or plantation
plantation1626
penc1695
walk1697
woodwork1712
estate1772
grass pen1774
fazenda1825
c1695 Acts & Laws Jamaica in Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) 345/1 All Owners of Neat Cattle shall keep one White man at each Pen, and two white Men at every Pen whereunto belongs above 200 Head of Cattle.
1732 in Cal. State Papers: Amer. & W. Indies (1939) XXXIX. 94 On 12th marched from the Rio Grande to Mr. Stringer's penn..& thence to Hobby's estate.
a1770 A. Hervey Jrnl. (1953) 38 Invited..to dine at his penn by Kingston [Jamaica].
1844 Mrs. Houstoun Texas & Gulf of Mexico I. 92 The pens, or villas of the rich inhabitants, who go there occasionally to enjoy health or coolness.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 222 The garden..is surrounded by a park, or ‘pen’, as it is called here.
1957 R. W. Beachey Brit. W. Indies Sugar Industry in Late 19th Cent. i. 37 A number of the estates purchased through the Court became cattle pens.
1988 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 28/4 From the cattle pen, the group visited the sheep farm.
5. A dock forming a berth for a vessel, esp. a covered dock for a submarine.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > harbour or port > [noun] > dock
dock1486
basin1709
float1840
pen1917
1917 W. S. Churchill in Second World War (1949) II. i. xii. 216 A..harbour..with regular pens for the destroyers and submarines.
1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 16 May 19 (caption) These..photographs illustrate the constructional development of a possible new Naval Base and set of Submarine Pens.
1989 Holiday Which? Mar. 88/2 Fishermen guide small launches with outboard motors out of tiny, low-walled pens in the harbour.
2003 Scotl. on Sunday (Nexis) 11 May 9 Faslane is the home of Britain's nuclear deterrent, with its pens housing the Royal Navy's Trident nuclear missile-armed submarine fleet.

Compounds

† pen-branded adj. Obsolete (of an animal) branded with a mark denoting the particular pen to which it belongs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [adjective] > branded or marked
firemarked1853
pen-branded1881
1881 Austral. Grazier's Guide (S. W. Silver & Co.) II. xx. 107 Grown cattle when purchased are very generally ‘pen branded’ or ‘crush branded’ as the operations are termed.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 232 Cows, unbranded calves, and pen-branded bullocks.
pen-fed adj. (of an animal) fed in a pen, stall, etc.; hand-fed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [adjective] > fed > fed in specific way
pen-fedc1400
stall-feda1555
mast-fed1566
grass-fed1575
bean-fed1590
soiled1608
corn-fed1787
summered1804
pair-fed1951
zero-grazed1958
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 57 (MED) My boles and my borez arn bayted and slayne..My polyle þat is penne-fed and partrykez boþe.
1882 J. H. Nodal & G. Milner Gloss. Lancs. Dial.: Pt. II 211 Pen-fed (N. Lanc.),..stall-fed.
1984 Jrnl. Applied Ecol. 21 145 The problems associated with the extrapolation of feeding behaviour data from pen-fed animals to wild giraffe are appreciated.
† penhead n. Obsolete a dam or weir at the head of a mill-lead.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water > contrivance for impounding water
stopping1575
pen1585
stop1585
water stop1585
stank1604
headinga1641
stanch1767
stop-back1790
penhead1805
keep1847
stanking1883
1805 in J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (1808) at Penhead They take in water from the river Don, at the intake or penhead of the meal-mill.
pen-keeper n. Jamaican the owner, overseer, or manager of a plantation or farm, now esp. a farm on which livestock is reared.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > farm worker > overseer > on plantation
pen-keeper1704
planting attorney1832
1704 Abridgem. Laws in Force & Use in Her Majesty's Plantations 158 If any Person whatsoever shall refuse either by himself, Over-seer, or Pen-keeper, to discover upon Oath the true Number of their Slaves, Horses, &c.
1880 Chambers's Jrnl. 27 Nov. 756/1 Mr. S—, an extensive pen-keeper (a person who breeds and sells stock) from the north side.
1924 Countries of World XXIII. 2377/2 The chief difficulties of the pen-keeper are the periods of drought.
2000 Daily Gleaner (Jamaica) (Nexis) 18 Jan. Now beef doesn't sell..and the penkeepers are left with livestock of doubtful value.
pen-keeping n. Jamaican the management of a farm, esp. for rearing livestock.
ΚΠ
1902 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 17 Nov. 6/1 (advt.) The place offers a splendid home and good investment to one in the Pen-keeping line.
1958 C. V. Black Hist. Jamaica ix. 96 Pen-keeping was to benefit greatly from the eventual spread of this grass throughout the island.
pen-mate n. Australian and New Zealand colloquial each of two or more shearers who shear sheep from the same pen.
ΚΠ
1895 Worker (Sydney) 28 Sept. 4/1 I asked my pen-mate's name Off one of the chaps I know.
1986 B. Richards Off Sheep's Back 94 We were joined by the sixth shearer, who was to be my pen-mate.
pen pond n. a pond formed by a dam at the head of a mill-lead.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [noun] > artificially confined water
weirc897
dama1340
millpond1371
pound1535
pent1587
water-shut1613
tumbling-bay1724
backwater1788
pen pond1904
1904 Daily Chron. 31 Mar. 6/2 Herons..bringing their young little fishes captured from the pen-ponds close by.
1957 H. Hall Parish's Dict. Sussex Dial. (new ed.) 93/2 Pen pond, a subsidiary pond above a hammer pond, from which all the water could be drawn to maintain the working head of the hammer pond.
† pen-pot n. Obsolete a basket or pot serving as a trap to catch lobsters or crabs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > other fishing equipment > [noun] > basket for keeping live fish > for crabs or lobsters
pen-pot1753
1753 P. Collinson in Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 41 That the crab will subsist..in the fishermens pen-pots, for the space of some months.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

penn.3

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Forms: Middle English–1600s penn, Middle English–1600s penne, Middle English–1600s peyn, Middle English– pen, 1500s pene, 1800s pin (Irish English); Scottish pre-1700 pend, pre-1700 pene, pre-1700 penne, pre-1700 1700s– pen, pre-1700 (1900s– Shetland) penn, 1800s pin.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French penne; Latin penna.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French penne, pene writing tool (c1050), long wing-feather of a bird (1121–34; French penne long feather of the wing or tail of a bird) and its etymon classical Latin penna feather, (plural) flight feathers, pinions, wings, in post-classical Latin also lobe of the lung (end of the 4th cent.; compare quot. 1582 at sense 5a), pen for writing (a636 in Isidore), ultimately < the same Indo-European base as feather n. Compare Italian penna feather, pen (13th cent.).The Latin word was earlier borrowed into Old English as pinn writing tool, pen (one isolated attestation; for the raising of Latin e to i in Old English see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §501):OE (Northumbrian) Epist. Jerome to Damasus 2 Calamo: mið pinn uel urittsæx.
I. A writing tool, and related senses.
1.
a. A hand-held instrument for writing or drawing with ink or a similar fluid: (originally) such an instrument made from a feather with its quill sharpened and split to form a nib which is dipped in ink; (subsequently) a small metal point formed like the lower end of a quill pen and fitted into a pen-holder, a pen-nib; (also) the complete contrivance of pen-holder and nib, a dip pen; (in later use) such an instrument containing its own supply of ink, which is delivered to the page by means of a nib or (more recently) a small ball or nylon tip. Also: an instrument for machine-controlled writing or drawing with ink.Frequently with distinguishing word indicating a construction or purpose, as ball-point, drawing, fountain, mapping, marker, music pen, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen
writing pena1398
pen1653
society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > quill pen
featherc1000
swan-pen1426
goose-quill1552
quill1552
goose-pena1616
pen1653
quill pen1725
crow-quill1740
twill1825
swan-quill1839
society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > point of pen > separate point
pen1653
nib1837
a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 25 (MED) Heo pynkes wiþ heore penne on heore parchemyn.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) 3 John i. 13 Y wolde not wrijte to thee bi ynke and penne [L. calamum].
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xvii. 13 Þis was the tixte trewly..Þe glose was gloriousely writen with a gilte penne.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. iii. 93 On his eere a penne to wryte wyth.
?c1535 L. Cox Arte Rhethorycke (new ed.) sig. Fivv I wolde..that they wolde set the penne to the paper.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft ii. viii. 31 There must be some eues-dropers with pen and inke behind the wall.
1653 R. Austen Treat. Fruit-trees 51 With a Quill the one halfe cut away, or a Pen of steele, (made thin for the purpose).
c1678 M. Hatton in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 169 It comes in my mind to aske you if you have, in England, stel penns; because, if you have not, I will indevour to gett you some [in France].
1710 H. Bedford Vindic. Church of Eng. 182 With all the Errors of the Press corrected in it with a Pen.
1786 S. Taylor Shorthand Writing 98 [For Short-hand] a common pen must be made with the nib much finer than for other writing..with a small cleft... But I would recommend a steel or a silver one that will write fine without blotting the curves of the letters.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxii. 341 A hard-nibbed pen which could be warranted not to splutter.
1890 Times 4 Jan. 10 (advt.) They came and remain a blessing to men, The Pickwick, Owl, and Waverley Pen. Of all Stationers.
1899 Notes & Queries 13 May 365/2 Quills as pens remained in use in some houses as the only writing tool up to a dozen to twenty years ago... Nowadays..the word ‘pen’ has almost dropped out of usage, except to express the pen and holder.
1948 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 2 Jan. in Coll. Ess. (1968) IV. 393 Thanks ever so for sending the pen... It'll do just as well as a Biro.
1975 Sci. Amer. Feb. 70/3 A microswitch that causes a deflection of a pen on a chart recorder.
1992 R. MacNeil Burden of Desire iv. 458 He took a fresh sheet of paper, uncapped his pen, and wrote it out afresh.
b. figurative. The pen regarded as the instrument of authorship; (hence) literary work; the practice of writing; a particular style or quality of writing.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > [noun]
bookcraftOE
fayingc1200
pena1387
composition1577
penwork1596
book writing1600
pencraft1600
composure1601
authoragea1628
literature1663
authorism1702
authorship1710
letters?1710
authoring1742
authorcraft1746
penwomanship1776
penmanship1793
authorhood1832
creative writing1837
pen-and-inkeryc1909
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [noun]
writingc1350
mannerc1375
pena1387
langue?a1400
indite1501
rate1517
conveyance?1521
composition1532
turn1533
set1535
tune1537
style1577
composure1601
way1612
language1699
rhetoricity1921
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 215 (MED) Iulius Cesar his hond was able to þe penne as to þe swerd.
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 334 (MED) Vouchesaf of thy singuler grace, lady, My wyt and my penne so to enlumyne Wyth kunnyng & eloquence.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 1182 (MED) I pray god that this turne not me to charge, For I drede sore my penn goith to large.
1583 H. Howard (title) A defensatiue against the poyson of supposed Prophecies not hitherto confuted by the penne of any man.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Gg1 To me..that do desire as much as lyeth in my Penne, to ground a sociable entercourse betweene Antiquitie and Proficience. View more context for this quotation
1659 O. Walker Some Instr. Art of Oratory sig. A4v To be Concise for the Pen;..Yet more circumlocutory and verbous for extempore-speech.
1702 L. Echard Gen. Eccl. Hist. ii. viii. 268 The Writings of this Author..shewing a very polite Pen.
1775 S. Johnson Taxation no Tyranny 84 Men of the pen..have strong inclination to give advice.
1818 W. Cobbett Gram. Eng. Lang. i. 9 Tyranny has no enemy so formidable as the pen.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 403 The drama was the department..in which a poet had the best chance of obtaining a subsistence by his pen.
1883 Harper's Mag. Dec. 156/2 An interesting volume from the pen of one of our most ‘wide-awake’ travellers.
1927 C. A. Lindbergh ‘We’ ix. 172 I am not an author by profession, and my pen could never express the gratitude which I feel towards the American people.
1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! v. 32 Many of these tracts had come from the pen of the man now shaking my mitt.
c. By metonymy: the person who uses a pen; a writer, an author (esp. one who is unknown or unspecified).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writer > [noun]
writereOE
dightera1000
pena1398
penner1568
calligrapher1752
penciller1836
reducer1868
society > leisure > the arts > literature > writer or author > [noun]
bookerOE
writerOE
makerc1350
authora1382
inditera1387
pena1398
poetc1400
bookmakera1425
ditera1425
compilera1500
compositor?1533
book writer1565
penner1568
authorizera1579
bookwright1583
scribe1584
epistler1592
penman1592
scriptora1600
composer1603
book-breeder1605
comprisor?1623
volumist1641
scrivenera1660
literatist1660
knight of the quill1692
belletrist1816
scriever1825
creative writer1854
penworker1876
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 189v A penne may nouȝt wryte atte fulle þe preisynge of þis kyngedome.
a1525 W. Kennedy in Asloan MS II. 273 Plesand pennis..Couth nocht discryve thi honowris infinit.
1563 W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Rivers vii What harme may hap by helpe of lying pennes.
1605 B. Jonson Sejanus Pref. [A book] wherein a second Pen had good share. View more context for this quotation
1693 E. Gibson Let. 30 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 217 An inequalitie of stile & composition..the necessary consequence of different pens.
1735 S.-Carolina Gaz. 16 Aug. 2/1 I can't help observing to you, that I believe there are many abler pens in this part of the World, than any of our six.
1789 A. Young Jrnl. 17 June in Trav. France (1792) i. 113 You hear of the count de Mirabeau's talents; that he is one of the first pens of France, and the first orator.
1821 tr. Trav. Cosmo III 1 The translation has been faithfully made..by a distinguished pen.
1885 Dict. National Biogr. I. 381/1 A second volume, subsequently published, was due to another pen.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. vii. [Aeolus] 130 Gallaher, that was pressman for you. That was a pen.
1988 Parl. Hist. 7 361 Locke's role as assistant pen, adviser and close friend of Shaftesbury is shown to have been crucial.
d. Originally Scottish. to touch the pen: (of a person unable to write) to touch the pen while another person writes one's name, so as to authenticate the signature (also figurative). Now rare.
ΚΠ
1507 in W. Fraser Memorials Montgomeries (1859) II. 69 The said Robert has affixt his sele, with his subscriptioun manuall, twiching the pen, causand ane vthir to subscriue for him, becaus he couth nocht write him self.
1563 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 242 Sic subscribitur..Farquhar McAlester..with my hand twiching the pen, be the notar undirwrittin becaus I culd not writt.
1671 Kirkudbright Test. (National Arch. Scotl.: CC13/6) 17 Apr. With my hand twocheing the pen led be the noter..becaus I cannot wryt myselff.
1686 G. Mackenzie Observ. Acts Parl. 453 No Witnesse shall sign as a Witness to any Parties Subscription, except he know the Party, and saw him subscrive, or saw, or heard him give warrand to the Nottar, or touch the Pen.
1760 Answer James Farmer to Petition 6 The Witnesses should..hear the Authority given to the Notary, and..should see some evident Token thereof by the Party's touching the Pen.
1795 R. Bell Lect. Solemnities used Scotl. viii. 266 It was proved by both the Notaries, that the question was put, and that she gave authority, by touching the pen.
1851 Encycl. Americana 288/2 Persons who are unable to write are accustomed to..touch the pen of him who makes the cross for them.
c1866 C. Nordhoff Young Man-of-War's Man i. 8 [He] told me to ‘touch the pen’, while he ingeniously wrote my name for me.
1911 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 24 235 The men whose names were on the paper denied ever having touched the pen.
1970 Jrnl. Afr. Hist. 11 387 The Oba refused to touch the pen, though he allowed his name to be written and his advisers to sign the treaty.
1998 Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News (Nexis) 17 Jan. 7 b This is the fellow who wants Alaska Natives to ‘touch the pen’ and swear allegiance to the state constitution.
e. the pen is mightier than the sword and variants: the written (or spoken) word is more effective than violence.
ΚΠ
1582 G. Whetstone Heptameron Ciuill Disc. iii. sig. I.i (margin) The dashe of a Pen, is more greeuous then the counterbuse of a Launce.]
1839 E. Bulwer-Lytton Richelieu ii. ii. 39 Beneath the rule of men entirely great The pen is mightier than the sword.
1891 J. Mackay Sitter on Rail 31 Brute force compared with subtle will is naught; The pen is mightier than the sword—or fist.
1948 T. A. Bailey Man in Street 303 The rattling of the presses is no less to be feared than the rattling of the machine guns, and the censor's pen is mightier than the sword.
2003 News of World (Nexis) 7 Sept. All schools must sign the anti-bullying charter. And bullies must learn that the pen really is mightier than the sword!
2. Any of various implements having a form or function analogous to that of an ink pen.
a. A pointed instrument for cutting, pricking, or engraving designs or letters; a small chisel or stylus. In later use chiefly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > sculpture or carving > incising or intaglio > [noun] > equipment
platea1400
penc1400
pointel1561
pointrel1659
spade1850
oil ring1902
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1724 For þat froþande fylþe, þe Fader..Hatz sende..Þe fyste wyþ þe fyngeres þat flayed þi hert, Þat rasped renyschly þe woȝe wyth þe roȝ penne.
1499 Contempl. Synners (de Worde) sig. Nvi This foresayd accyon I rede ryght ernystfull With penne of stele in to thy herte thou prent.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Job xix. 24 Oh that my wordes were..grauen with an yron pen in lead.
1640 H. Glapthorne Hollander iii. sig. Fii Rare Paracelsian, thy Annalls shall be cut in Brasse by Pen of steele.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 236 Both men and women paint and embroider their skins with iron Pens.
a1788 N. Cotton Var. Pieces Verse & Prose (1791) I. 231 Those faults which artful men conceal, Stand here engrav'd with pen of steel, By Conscience, that impartial scribe!
c1865 O. W. Holmes Compl. Poet. Wks. (1912) 211 History, with her iron pen, Grooves in the unchanging rock the final phrase That shapes his image in the souls of men.
2002 Palladium-Item (Richmond, Indiana) (Nexis) 14 Oct. 6 The American people err through their evil ways; chiseled with an iron pen upon their hearts of stone, the Lord says [etc.].
†b. A pencil. Obsolete.keelivine pen: see keelivine n. b. skaillie pen: see skaillie n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil
pencil1573
pen1612
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. xxi. 247 Being noted with a line with a blacklead pen.
1661 Princess Cloria iii. 313 You shall finde also here inclosed, a leaden Pen, whereby in another piece of paper you may fully signifie your minde.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. at Pencil A black lead pen, with which cut to a point they write without ink.
1766 Compl. Farmer at Surveying Draw a remarkable line with ink, or rather with a black-lead pen quite over your paper.
c. With preceding word, as electric pen, pneumatic pen. A pen-shaped device which perforates paper with fine dots, enabling copies of writing, a design, etc., to be made by stencilling. Now chiefly historical (esp. with reference to such an instrument invented by Thomas Edison).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > perforators
perforator1855
electric pen1858
roulette1867
1858 J. Mullaly Laying of Cable 45 A pendulum arrangement,..making marks on the upper part of a strip of Morse registering paper, the middle marking style or electric pen being connected with the near end of the cable.
1879 Scribner's Monthly July 475/1 The success of the electric pen has led to the introduction of two new forms of perforating or stenciling pens.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 697/1 Pneumatic pen, an instrument for obtaining a stencil for copying purposes.
1925 Science 5 June 585/2 A few of Edison's more important inventions outside of the electrical field, such as the telegraph instruments, the stock ticker, the typewriter, the electric pen.
2002 Times Herald (Port Huron, Mich.) (Nexis) 21 Jan. (Living section) 1 d Mr. Edison's ‘electric pen’ (an early mimeograph machine)..will be among the inventions visitors can investigate at the museum.
3. Computing. In full electronic pen (occasionally also electric pen). An electronic pen-like device used in conjunction with a writing surface to enter commands or data into a computer. Cf. pen computer n. at Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1972 Ultrasonics 10 200/2 With the help of a special writing pad, an electronic pen, and a small evaluator, Siemens Research Laboratories of Munich are now able to display and store handwritten matter in a computer.
1985 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 17 Dec. v. 1/1 At the base of the screen is a magnetic drawing board with an electric pen attached. Beside the monitor sits a personal computer, whose software is programmed to allow the pen on the drawing board to interact with the video frame on the screen.
1992 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 2 Dec. b19/1 The hottest new products at last month's Comdex computer fair in Las Vegas were those that are told what to do not by a keyboard, but by a pen.
2001 Red Herring Nov. 64/2 Web tablets..are like laptops without keyboards and can be scribbled upon with electronic pens.
II. A feather, a quill, and connected senses.
4.
a. The quill or barrel of a feather; (also) †the quill of a porcupine (obsolete). Now rare (regional).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > part of
pen1381
quill?a1425
dowlc1535
rib1545
web1575
pilec1600
twill1664
beard1688
pinion1691
vane1713
shaft1748
beardlet1804
medulla1826
barb1835
barbule1835
stem1845
feather-pulp1859
aftershaft1867
barbicel1869
filament1870
vexillum1871
scape1872
rachis1874
harl1877
calamus1878
radius1882
ramus1882
scapus1882
cilia1884
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > family Hystricidae (porcupine) > parts of
quill1590
pen1607
porcupine quill1664
porcupine stone1676
spine1753
1381 Diuersa Servicia in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 65 Nym caponys & schald hem. Nym a penne & opyn þe sckyn at þe heuyd & blowe hem tyl þe sckyn ryse from þe flesche, & do of þe skyn al hole.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 89 (MED) Festre is a deep old wounde..& he haþ wiþinne him a calose hardnesse al aboute as it were a goos penne or ellis a kane.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 179 (MED) In þat contre ben many Griffounes..And of hire ribbes and of the pennes of hire wenges men maken bowes full stronge.
?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 39 (MED) For nase-bledyng..blow þe poudre in his nose with a penne.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. liv. 514 With the fourth men did write..as they do now vse to do with pennes and quilles of certayne birdes.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 148 The porcupine, who casteth her sharp pens into the mouth of al dogs.
1871 R. Cowie Shetland xv. 89 Having no catheter, he relieved the patient with a ‘haigrie's pen’ (i.e. a heron's quill).
1984 in C. Kightly Country Voices iv. 109 The small feathers just had their ends cut off: but the big ones, you had to pull 'em off pens (quills).
b. In plural. The flight feathers or pinions (of birds, angels, etc.) regarded as the organs of flight; wings. Now rare (archaic and poetic in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > wing or wings
featherhama800
featherc850
pensa1382
sail1590
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Psalms ciii. 3 Lord, my god, þou art magnefied hugely..Þat puttist þe cloude þi steȝynge vp, that gost vp on the pennys of wyndis [a1425 L.V. on the fetheris of wyndis, L. super pennas ventorum].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Ezek. i. 6 And four facis to oon [sc. a beast] and four pennys to oon [a1425 L.V. foure wyngis weren to oon; L. quatuor pennæ uni].
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 4529 Iuno..Ȝe presand hire a pakoke with pennes of an Aungell.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xii. v. 79 The lycht thai [fowlis] dirkin with thar pennys thik.
1611 W. Mure Misc. Poems iv. 5 The tragic end of Icarus..Lyk as he did presume, too hie wt borrowed pends [rhyme endis].
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 421 Featherd soon and fledge They summ'd thir Penns..soaring th' air sublime. View more context for this quotation
1800 tr. F. J. Haydn Creation ii. 74 On mighty pens uplifted soars the eagle aloft.
1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche vii. xvi. 85 He flashed his pens, and sweeping widely round Towered to air.
1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. VI. xxi. 14 His vast wings, uplifted, fill The air his whistling pens, with whisper dread.
c. A feather of a bird. Now Scottish (chiefly Shetland) and English regional (northern).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun]
featherOE
pena1398
quill?a1425
plumec1475
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 135v Þe souþerne wynde..chaungiþ in foules and briddes olde pennes and feþeris [L. pennarum].
c1400 Femina (Trin. Cambr.) (1909) 62 (MED) Pluis ayme archer penne de poun..more loueþ þe archer þe penne of þe pakok.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 4988 (MED) Þar bade a brid..all þe body & þe brest..Was finely florischt & faire with frekild pennys.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Riv The rauyn wyll nat gyue her blacke pennes for the pecockes paynted fethers.
1584 King James VI & I Ess. Prentise Poesie sig. Giiiiv In Arabie cald Fælix was she bredd This foule..Whose taill of coulour was celestiall blew, With skarlat pennis that through it mixed grew.
1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes v. vi. 29 in Wks. II The proud Peacocke, ouer-charg'd with pennes, Is faine to sweepe the ground, with his growne traine, And load of feathers.
1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 357 The chief Product of Orkney that is yearly exported..is Corn, Fish, Hides,..Wooll, Pens, Down, Feathers, [etc.].
1782 Caledonian Mercury 14 Aug. in Sc. National Dict. (1968) at Pen n.1 The ploverons an' the skair muir-hens May sit at eise, an' pike thair pens.
1831 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 29 860 Hector is here chicken-hearted—crowed-down—cool in the pens—fugy, as the cockers say.
1916 J. J. H. Burgess Rasmie's Smaa Murr 16 Apr. Da bairn toucght da maa's penn wis faaen frae a angel's wing.
1961 New Shetlander No. 56. 25 Hit aye üsed ta git bunged up noo an dan wi sly, an watter-clocks, an skories' pens.
1999 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. (ed. 2) 64/1 We wir wint ta mak taatie-craas wi maa's pens.
d. Chiefly English regional (northern). A short rudimentary feather. Cf. pen-feather n. 2, pinfeather n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > feather > [noun] > ungrown feather
pinfeather?1680
pen1810
stob-feather1825
stub-feather1847
pen-feather1849
1810 R. Parkinson Treat. Breeding & Managem. Live Stock II. x. 362 When many of these ducks are made fat, at the age of six weeks, they are often full of young feathers, or what are termed pens by poulterers.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) This chicken's full o' pens.
1880 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Pens, the rudimentary quills of feathers, as of fowls, ducks, &c.
a1903 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 464/1 [W. Yorks.] a young bird is first ‘nakt’, then in ‘blue pen’, then ‘fleggd’.
5. In extended use.
†a. A pipe or tube resembling a quill. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > quality of being hollow cylinder > hollow cylinder or tube > small or narrow
quillc1433
pen?1440
burrow1615
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) ix. 186 (MED) Water may be led..In chanels, or conditis of leed, Or ellis in trowis ymaad of tre..The water that gooth thorgh the leden penne [gloss. condite; L. plumbeis fistulis] Is rust corrupt, vnholsum.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 94 A Penne, pugillaris.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum v. xxxv By gendring of humours in the wosen and pennis of the lunges [L. in pennis pulmonis].
1595 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 151 A Corslett a fowling peece caliv' a petronell penn & div'se other percells of Armoure & weapons.
b. Chiefly Scottish. A hard stalk of a plant; the rigid petiole or midrib of a leaf.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > [noun] > part or side of > rib or vein
nerve?a1425
ribc1450
vein?c1450
sinew1551
brawn1601
master-vein1658
costa1699
venule1766
pen1773
surculus1775
midrib1793
venule1806
veinlet1807
rachis1830
nervure1842
nerving1854
1773 Scots Farmer 1 562 He drew his hand across the bottoms [of the sheaves], to open the pens of straw a little.
1818 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Oct. 330 (Jam.) A beggar received nothing but a kail-castock, or pen, that is, the thick rib up the middle of the colewort stalk.
1886 A. Rea Beckside Boggle 290 Her hands get cut with sharp stones and bracken pens.
c1920 A. Robb Memories of Mormondside (MS) in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. 83/1 The winnister wis coontit a very handy thing in yon day though it only blew oot the caff and the cuffins or pens as they were ca'd.
c. Scottish. A quill shaped like a spoon and used for taking snuff; a snuff-spoon of any sort; (also) a spoonful of snuff. Now chiefly historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > snuff > [noun] > snuff-spoon
pen1783
1783 in C. Garstin Samuel Kelly (1925) 84 [Snuff] was kept in a cow's horn to which was sometimes chained a brass spoon, full of little holes, and a hare's foot. The former was called a pen.
1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 29 Now, o' the snish he's for a dose; Wi' pen just rising to his nose.
1890 ‘H. Haliburton’ In Sc. Fields 98 The pinch was conveyed to the nose by means of a bone snuff spoon or pen, as it was called.
1946 J. C. Forgan Maistly 'Muchty 18 He filled his nose wi' pens o'snuff to gie'm a guid beginnin'.
d. Zoology. The tapering cartilaginous internal shell of a squid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Cephalopoda > [noun] > order Dibranchiata > section Decapoda > member of > internal shell
pen1844
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi viii. §1. 384 The Calamarie is sometimes called the Sea-clerk, having as it were a knife and a pen.]
1844 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 134 78 The coexistence with the true Belemnites, in the Oxford clay at Christian-Malford, of fossil Calamaries with a dorsal horny gladius or pen.
1872 H. A. Nicholson Man. Palæontol. 295 Teuthidæ.—Shell consisting of an internal horny ‘pen’ or ‘gladius’, composed of a central shaft and two lateral wings.
1901 E. Step Shell Life xx. 391 The remaining families have the shell reduced to a gladius of thin horn, commonly called the pen.
1992 D. G. Campbell Crystal Desert x. 207 To capture sperm whales for the sole purpose of recovering the pens, beaks, and other body parts of giants squids in their stomachs.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a. (In sense 1a.)
pen-box n.
ΚΠ
1860 Bentley's Misc. Apr. 401 Many of them [sc. Copts] are literary characters,..and may be seen with pen-box and inkstand swinging at their girdles.
1993 A. Gill City of Dreams (BNC) 50 A scribe came into the courtyard timidly, his pen-box swinging from his left shoulder.
pen draughtsman n.
ΚΠ
1889 J. Pennell (title) Pen drawing and pen draughtsmen, their work and their methods.
1993 Guardian (Nexis) 24 Apr. 30 Here he came under the influence of Edmund J. Sullivan, who was not only a fine pen draughtsman, but also a remarkable teacher.
pen drawing n.
ΚΠ
1848 Amer. Whig Rev. Jan. 79/1 The accompanying portrait of the present King of Prussia, was taken from an excellent German print... It is a pen drawing, printed by Donlevy's Chemitypic press.
1889 J. Pennell (title) Pen drawing and pen draughtsmen, their work and their methods.
1988 A. Dillard Schedules in G. Wolff Best Amer. Ess. (1989) 75 I made a pen drawing of the window and the landscape it framed.
pen-line n.
ΚΠ
1856 R. S. Smith Man. Topogr. Drawing 38 The tint used to replace that produced by the pen-lines, is composed of Indigo and Burnt Sienna, when the groundwork is green.
1895 E. M. Thompson Eng. Illum. MSS ii. 38 The features of the human face are indicated by very light pen-lines alone without any attempt at modelling.
1992 Rev. Eng. Stud. 43 165 In the left-hand margin of this lyric is written the unexplained word diffra, linked by pen-lines to the beginning of each verse line.
pen nib n.
ΚΠ
1850 Sci. Amer. 7 Dec. 94/2 I claim making the pen nib adjustable, substantially as described.
1861 Ladies' Repository July 414/1 So many different things come crowding down to my pen-nib at once.
1955 K. Hutton & A. Swallow Chem. for Gen. Sci. vii. 93 Wipe the thin layer of grease off a new pen-nib and dip it into a dilute solution of cobalt chloride in water.
2001 Sci. Fiction Chron. June 10/3 The British Book Awards, aka the Nibbies (because the award is modeled on a pen nib).
pen-painting n.
ΚΠ
1850 Ladies' Repository Jan. 15/2 We do not hesitate to describe the passage as one of the most vivid and impressive pen-paintings ever produced.
1950 ‘J. Tey’ To love & be Wise iii. 32 When pen-painting came in she had pen-painted with assiduity.
1998 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 21 Jan. 1/1 It is the most refined in Melbourne, with silken service, calligraphy and pen-paintings on the walls.
† pen-powder n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1593 Sonnet in G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation sig. **4v Such a Bombard-goblin..With drad Pen-powder, and the conquerous pott.
pen rack n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > other writing equipment > [noun] > pencil-case > long, narrow receptacle for pens
pen rack1851
pen tray1853
1851 C. Cist Sketches & Statistics Cincinnati 196 In this department are made carriage wrenches, staples, pole crabs, nuts, screw wrenches, table hinges, pen racks, tailors' shears, and a variety of other articles.
1989 Miller's Collectables Price Guide 1989–90 492/1 A papier mâché pen rack.
pen set n.
ΚΠ
1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xvii. 69 On da Cunha's simple mahogany desk was a porcelain-and-gold pen set.
1992 Gusher Winter (BNC) Fourteen WGEC production operators on Marathon's Brae platforms reached a new record..and to mark the occasion each was given a pen set.
pen sketch n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific medium
coal work1651
crayon1662
pastel1791
pencilling1803
pen sketch1847
pen-picture1853
sanguine1854
pen and ink1860
black lead study1862
sepia1863
stylograph1866
charcoal1884
fusain1884
line drawing1891
celluloid1920
1847 Amer. Whig Rev. Feb. 213/1 A pen sketch of Da Vinci.
1887 Athenæum 29 Jan. 166/3 Some pen-sketches with tinted shadows.
1994 Toronto Life Aug. 58/3 Pen sketches and lithos make allusive understatements.
pen-slip n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > incorrectness of language > [noun] > error in written mode > slip of the pen
pen-slip1659
a slip of the pen1659
lapsus calami1893
1659 T. Fuller Appeal Iniured Innocence i. 5 I hope that Memory-mistakes and Pen-slips in my Book will not be found so frequent.
1883 Atlantic Monthly June 852/1 A certain contributor, whose pen-slips are so rare that it is quite a treat to his readers when he makes one.
1939 Greece & Rome 8 121 Sometimes a significant word is lost,..or there is carelessness... Pen-slips are..‘it indulging’, ‘Tyrtaeus’, [etc.].
2002 Re: Rank a PC for 4 days in soc.culture.singapore (Usenet newsgroup) 2 Sept. Sorry, not ‘Rank’, it's ‘Rent’. Sorry for my pen-slip.
pen-spray n.
ΚΠ
1905 J. W. Bradley Illum. MSS ii. iii. 142 The greater part of this volume is in the..‘Berry’ style, i.e. the fine pen-sprays of ivy leaf of burnished gold.
1965 Italica 42 213 Dainty flowers, thick creepers, acanthus leaves and pensprays of ivy, fill the margins in a network of pattern.
pen-stalk n.
ΚΠ
1881 Science 20 Aug. 390/2 You should have a pair of pliers, a pair of scissors, a stick like a common cedar ‘pen stalk’, with a needle driven into the end of it.
1907 K. D. Wiggin New Chron. Rebecca iii. 78 Last night I dreamed that the river was ink and I kept dipping into it and writing with a penstalk made of a young pine tree.
pen-stand n.
ΚΠ
1860 Sci. Amer. 14 Apr. 253/1 For an improved pen stand: we claim the pen stand or pen rest, as described.
1933 D. Gascoyne Opening Day i. 12 On the flap of the desk were bottles of inks, a pen-stand in red and white mottled marble..and a profuse litter of papers.
1991 Incentive Today Oct. 66 (advt.) Have your own design, logo or sales message printed on slate coasters. Paperweights, penstands, clocks and key rings also available.
pen-stroke n.
ΚΠ
1808 S. T. Coleridge Notebks. (1973) III. 3278 Faith..ought to be stamped on the mind by all the evidences co-ordinated, not designed by single Pen-strokes, beginning either here or there.
1928 O. E. Saunders Eng. Illumination I. 66 The shading on the draperies is executed by penstrokes, one thick line being regularly bordered by two thin ones.
1992 Rev. Eng. Stud. 43 107 The photographic process employed in the manuscript reproductions can best be described as Manichaean, rendering invisible any pen-stroke that is not pure black-on-white.
† pen whisper n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1712 A. Pope Corr. 5 Dec. (1956) I. 161 I'll not encroach upon..Bayes' province and pen whispers.
pen-wright n.
ΚΠ
1848 Littell's Living Age 12 Aug. 332/2 Thousands of the second and third rate penwrights..betook themselves, for sheer subsistence, to farthing journals, single sheets, placards, small pamphlets.
1870 H. Campkin in Trans. London & Middlesex Archæol. Soc. 3 232 The Grub Street penwrights.
2001 Re: Fortunate Son Spoiler Discussion on Ships & Subspace in rec.arts.startrek.tech (Usenet newsgroup) 28 Nov. This is probably..a reference to penwright Anton Chekhov.
pen-writing n.
ΚΠ
1838 J. Banim & M. Banim Bit o' Writin' I. 34 I remember the first time I was put upon larnin' the pin-writin' myself.
1904 Daily Chron. 30 June 8/4 Speaking of trains that permit of pen-writing, it is only in Russia I have found them.
2002 San Francisco Chron. (Nexis) 28 Sept. a13 100 regulars each have their own buffer, foam toe separator and file in a cardboard box with their name scrawled on it in shaky pen-writing.
b.
† pen-sac n. Obsolete (In sense 5d.)
ΚΠ
1874 E. R. Lankester in Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. 14 371 Our attention is immediately directed to the pen-sac and pen of the Dibranchiata.
1884 Proc. 32nd Meeting Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 338 A flap or hood-like prolongation of the mantle, forming a pen-sac.
c. In (frequently mock-heroic) reference to the pen as an instrument of authorship (cf. sense 1b).
pen-agility n.
ΚΠ
1901 Literature 1 June 456/1 The giants of the past and of the present do not descend to such mere pen-agility.
† pen-combat n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1642 J. Hales Tract conc. Schisme 3 As long as the disagreeing parties went no further than Disputes and Pen Combats.
a1848 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. (1875) 313/1 The result of this pen-combat was really lamentable.
† pen-cuff n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1893 Bookworm 316 Prynne and he came to pen-cuffs.
† pen-errantry n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1825 C. Waterton Wanderings in S. Amer. iv. i. 295 If..thou wouldst allow me to indulge a little longer in this harmless pen-errantry, I would tell thee [etc.].
† pen-fencer n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1639 F. B. tr. J. L. G. de Balzac Coll. Mod. Epist. IV. sig. C5v These Pen-fencers only beg the Seale of your Authority.
pen fighting n.
ΚΠ
1792 T. Dermody Poems 48 Verse-inditing, Ink shed, white bullets, and pen-fighting.
1851 in Internat. Mag. (1851) Oct. 424/2 An Englishman, well known for certain transactions in Italy, is to do all the pen fighting work for Ferdinand in London.
1984 BBC Summary of World Broadcasts (Nexis) 4 Aug. All rebel organisations attempted to seize power in their own units, resulting in two extremely antagonistic factions and the development from verbal and pen fighting to struggles by force.
† pen-life n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xi. lxiii. 273 Infuse yee Penn-life..into ore-taken Fames by death.
1861 Ladies' Repository Apr. 230/1 How different the pen-life and private life of some men!
† pen-pains n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Sussex 112 Practical Policy..beating Pen-pains out of distance in the Race of Preferment.
pen-prattle n.
ΚΠ
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison V. xxi. 121 The design of my pen-prattle.
1800 C. B. Brown Arthur Mervyn II. xxv. 243 But why am I indulging this pen-prattle?
1914 E. Wharton Let. 20 Dec. (1988) 343 Instead of being able to sit down for a pen-prattle with my friends, I..can only drowze over La France Contemporaine or such-like.
† pen-scolding n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. 60 Let them glory in Pen-scolding, and Paper-brabling, that list.
† pen-slave n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 32 The devill hathe his seducing secretaries or pennslaves.
d. Objective.
pen cleaner n.
ΚΠ
1860 Sci. Amer. 20 Oct. 267/1 Pen cleaner. With pens, especially with pens made of metal,..it is of the greatest importance that the same should be kept clean.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 8 Dec. 3/1 A brush pen-cleaner, stamp and nib-box.
2002 Leader-Post (Regina, Sask.) (Nexis) 15 June b2 Items such as..silver candlesticks, a gold pen cleaner and a Singer sewing machine that were contributed by a Reginan.
pen cutter n.
ΚΠ
1723 London Gaz. No. 6222/10 David Shepard,..Pen-Cutter.
a1857 J. L. Blake Biogr. Dict. (1859) 205/2 A man who, from being a pen-cutter, acquired some eminence as a poet and writer.
1996 Post-Standard (N.Y.) (Nexis) 22 Dec. 5 The parchment maker was there. So were Danilo the page ruler and Silvio the pen cutter.
pen-driver n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > writer or author > [noun] > inferior writer
scribblera1556
paper-blurrera1586
by-writer1587
feather-driver1593
squitter-book1594
paper-stainer1596
blur-paper1603
spoil-paper1610
penster1611
inkhorn matea1616
squitter-wit1615
ink-dabbler1616
squitter-pulpa1640
quill-driver1700
scribble-scrabble1707
authorling1752
writerling1802
inkhorn varlet1820
toe-writer1845
pen-driver1854
anonymuncule1859
ink-jerker1865
pen-pusher1875
pseudonymuncle1875
ink-spiller1881
ink-slinger1887
blotter-
1854 Ladies' Repository Jan. 27/2 He [sc. the critic] squares himself off at presumptuous pen-drivers..and hits them such digs.
1907 S. F. Bullock Robert Thorne xv. 276 Miserable little pen-drivers—fellows in black coats, with inky fingers and shiny seats on their trousers.
1988 Guardian (Nexis) 18 Nov. A great American humorist, contriver of countless ingenious verbal arabesques, described even by the Chinese on the last of his six round-the-world trips as ‘the famous foreign pendriver’.
pen-bearing adj.
ΚΠ
1887 A. Heilprin Geogr. & Geol. Distribution Animals iii. i. 268 Pen-bearing cuttle-fishes or calamaries.
1987 Business First (Buffalo) (Nexis) 8 June 3 Golden Games' products include Pen Puppy, a pen-bearing autographable stuffed dog.
pen-holding n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1840 E. A. Poe in Graham's Mag. Dec. 268/1 They had all slightly bald heads, from which the right ears, long used to pen-holding, had an odd habit of standing off on end.
1937 D. Thomas Let. 15 July (1987) 254 Look carefully at its smarmy rump..its trembling, penholding paw that scribbles, ‘kick me’, in the dust.
1994 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 24 Nov. 14 m The Palmer Method of Penmanship. It stressed the importance of physical training—correct posture, relaxing exercises, movement practice and penholding.
e. Instrumental.
pen-formed adj.
ΚΠ
1906 E. Johnston Writing & Illuminating xiv. 238 The Pen-formed letters are more easily practised.
1940 Speculum 15 322 Janus Gruter in 1602..published specimens of Gothic, using very crude wooden types which..fail entirely to preserve the character of the pen-formed letters.
pen-painted adj.
ΚΠ
1929 E. Bowen Last September ii. ix. 104 Cushions with pen-painted sprays.
1989 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 12 Apr. The wall was covered with pen-painted obscene slogans.
† pen-persecuted adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) i. 17 Much Pen-persecuted, and pelted at with Libellous Pamphlets.
1866 J. P. Collier Bibliogr. & Crit. Acct. Rarest Bks. Eng. Lang. (new ed.) IV. 117 Stubbes, as a zealous Puritan, sincerely sympathized with his pen-persecuted brethren.
pen-written adj.
ΚΠ
1855 Sci. Amer. 21 July 359/3 A labor saving machine for the merchant superseding the copy press, being perfect pen-written copies.
1897 ‘P. Warung’ Tales Old Regime 23 When he had printed off twenty cards he mixed them with Pounce's pen-written ones.
1997 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 20 May 19 His only proof that the first election was bona fide was a manila envelope covered with pen-written vote tallies.
C2. (See also pen and ink n. and adj.)
pen-and-paper adj. involving the use of pen and paper; written.
ΚΠ
1860 W. D. Howells Let. 14 Nov. in Sel. Lett. (1979) I. 64 I began to be afraid our pen-and-paper acquaintance was come to an end.
1954 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. B. 16 31 The pen-and-paper labour only varies as the length of the walk, whereas the demand on a machine goes up as the square of this length.
1992 Behavioural Pharmacol. 3 22/1 The DSST is a simple pen-and-paper test which provides a general measure of psychomotor performance.
pen-and-pencil adj. consisting of, executed with, or using both pen and pencil; (now frequently in pen-and-pencil set) a writing set comprising a usually matching pen and pencil.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [adjective] > drawn > in specific medium
pencilled1594
pen and ink1810
chalked1823
pen-and-pencila1845
pen-and-wash1893
line-drawn1903
a1845 T. Hood in Idler (1856) (title) Pen and pencil pictures.
1896 Idler Mar. 242/1 There are many well known pen and pencil men of to-day who can scarcely obtain sufficient commissions.
1935 E. Farjeon Nursery in Nineties 417 I had a marvellous book,..and Harry a pen-and-pencil-set.
1990 P. Callow Van Gogh (BNC) 129 Another picture, a pen and pencil drawing, is a more devastating exposure still.
pen-and-wash adj. (of a picture) executed using ink applied with both pen and brush; of or relating to this type of picture.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [adjective] > drawn > in specific medium
pencilled1594
pen and ink1810
chalked1823
pen-and-pencila1845
pen-and-wash1893
line-drawn1903
1893 W. G. Collingwood Life & Work J. Ruskin I. 122 We have no pen-and-wash work of his before 1845.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 12 Nov. 2/1 The interesting pen-and-wash revivalist experiments of Mr. Roger Fry.
1997 M. Acton Learning to look at Paintings (2000) vii. 173 This picture is really a type of painting which grew from developments in drawings, like the pen and wash works of Claude, and the Topographical tradition.
pen-based adj. Computing designating or relating to a computer controlled by an electronic pen (see sense 3).
ΚΠ
1986 Byte Apr. 38 A pen-based digitizer tablet for $4995.
1994 Arena Sept. 151/1 Pen-based systems allow you to control functions by touching an electronic pen to the screen.
pen computer n. a computer which is capable of interpreting handwritten script and is controlled by an electronic pen.
ΚΠ
1991 Forbes 2 Sept. 142/2 Pen computers need digitizers.
2002 Herald (Glasgow) 27 Apr. 8 The digital revolution,..with surveyors operating hand-held pen computers, means that electronic data are now available within 24 hours of an area being surveyed.
pen drive n. (a) (chiefly attributive) designating a mechanism that drives a pen, such as that of a plotter or recording device; (b) Computing = memory stick n. at memory n. Compounds 2; (occasionally also spec.) a memory stick in the shape of a pen.A proprietary name in the United Kingdom in sense (b).
ΚΠ
1909 Draft Meter Code i, in Minutes 25th Ann. Meeting Assoc. Edison Illuminating Companies 38 The predominant factor in the design of such instruments is the necessity for taking care of pen friction either by providing sufficient torque, by auxiliary pen-drive or by intermittent registration.
2001 Sunday Times 5 Aug. (Doors) 28/2 The Pen Drive holds up to 128Mb of data, but..it costs over a pound per megabyte.
2006 Independent 26 July (Extra section) 8/1 USB flash drives (also known as pen drives, or USB memory sticks) are great for moving relatively small amounts of data between computers, or between work or university and home.
2006 M. Schwartz New Materials, Processes, & Methods Technol. iv. 224 A shape memory pen driver was designed in the early 1970s to replace conventional pen-drive mechanisms, which used a galvanometer to actuate a pen arm.
pen-fellow n. a fellow author.
ΚΠ
1582 in Bible (Rheims) Pref. 8–9 Of which sort Calvin himselfe and his penfellows so much complaine.
1865 Punch 23 Dec. 246/2 There is one chance in which the dramatic author now-a-days is still more blessèd beyond his pen-fellows, and that is, in his critics.
1997 I. F. Clarke Great War with Germany 1 Despite the decided animosities that once separated the authors of these tales of the not-yet, one common aim made them all pen-fellows of a kind.
pen-form n. the shape of a character written by hand, esp. as influenced by the writing instrument or the way it is used.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > form influenced by writing instrument
pen-form1906
1906 E. Johnston Writing & Illuminating iii. 63 For the practical study of pen-forms use a cane or a reed pen.
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King 397 They [sc. dwarves] adhered to the Cirth, and developed written pen-forms from them.
† pen-gossip v. Obsolete rare intransitive to indulge in informal or trifling communication by written word.
ΚΠ
1819 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) III. 85 If I were not rather disposed at this time to pen-gossip with your worship.
penmaster n. a skilful writer or author.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writer > writer according to handwriting style > [noun] > skilled or beautiful
penman1588
scribe1594
penmastera1661
penwoman1747
calligrapher1752
calligraph1801
calligraphist1816
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Heref. 40 Two such Transcendent Pen-masters..may even serve fairly to engross the will & testament of the expiring Universe.
1997 PC/Computing (Nexis) Feb. 306 The penmaster of panic, Stephen King.
pen name n. [compare earlier nom de plume n.] an assumed name used by an author for professional purposes; a literary pseudonym.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun] > assumed or fictitious name
alias1605
nom de guerre1652
onomastic1654
martial name1762
anonym1812
pseudonym1817
nom de plume1841
stage name1847
cryptonym1862
pen namea1864
allonym1867
code name1867
screen name1923
nom de vente1955
work name1963
a1864 B. Taylor in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (1864) Pen-name.
1882 J. A. Noble Sonnet in Eng. (1893) ii. 69 Christina Rossetti..contributing, under the pen-name of Ellen Alleyne, a number of tenderly beautiful poems.
1999 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 31 Jan. c14 [He] once had to churn out sci-fi novels under 10 different pen names to keep the wolf from the door.
pen-nibber n. (a) now historical, an instrument for mending or sharpening the nib of a pen; †(b) (somewhat derogatory) a person who uses a pen-nib, a writer (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1823 Trans. Soc. Arts 40 App. i. 252 This operation..may be performed still more accurately by the Pen-nibber here represented.
a1848 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. (1875) 312/2 This Vasari of writing-masters relates the controversies and the libels of many a pen-nibber.
1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 692/2 He had in everyday use: (1) wash-hand tray..(13) pen-nibber, (14) ruler.
† pen-nibbing adj. and n. Obsolete (somewhat derogatory) (a) adj. using a pen-nib; that writes; (b) n. writing.
ΚΠ
1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows III. liv. 289 A pent-up, emasculated, pen-nibbing menial.
1875 E. A. Duyckinck Cycl. Amer. Lit. 661/2 They will find a number of heavy moulded geniusses eternally at pen nibbing.
pen-picture n. (a) now rare, a picture executed in pen; (b) a creative or vivid written description or summary.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific medium
coal work1651
crayon1662
pastel1791
pencilling1803
pen sketch1847
pen-picture1853
sanguine1854
pen and ink1860
black lead study1862
sepia1863
stylograph1866
charcoal1884
fusain1884
line drawing1891
celluloid1920
1853 Zoologist 11 4054 The desultory manner in which Mr. —— has arranged his pen-pictures.
1883 Harper's Mag. July 292/1 Now and then we have graphic pen-pictures of the domestic misery produced by the education of girls out of the intellectual plane occupied by their fathers and mothers.
1992 S. Johnstone et al. Legal Context of Teaching (BNC) 101 It may be helpful for the record to include a brief pen-picture of the pupil.
pen plume n. = pen-feather n. 1; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > wing or wings > feather(s) on > primary feather(s)
flags1486
pinion feather1486
pinion1545
pen-feather1602
quill feather1678
remexa1705
flight1735
flight-feather1735
primary1776
rower1835
remicle1887
pen plume1899
1899 Daily News 16 Sept. 7/2 Ostrich feathers or painted pen-plumes are the principal trimming.
1994 Windsor Rev. (Nexis) Sept. 3 Winged with a pen plume of green linen flesh.
penpoint n. (a) the point or nib of a pen; (b) now rare literary effectiveness, clarity, focus, etc.; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > point of pen
neb1574
nib1583
penpoint1805
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > vigour or force > [noun] > incisiveness
edgea1593
pointa1643
pointedness1693
penpoint1805
incisiveness1865
trenchancy1866
crispness1885
trenchantness1892
cutting edge1929
1805 T. Jefferson Memorandum Bks. 10 Dec. (1997) II. 1168 Pd. Harrison for 2. pen points 2.D[ollars].
1830 J. Clare Let. Mar. (1985) 504 Who can tell me where he is not or..from how many pen points he is at this moment dropping into his ambitions or humble extances.
1853 M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer Homes of New World 110 Do not thousands of little dwarfs stick up their heads and fight with pins or pen-points?
1902 Daily Chron. 27 Mar. 3/3 If one [plot]..were reclaimed, liquefied into words and given pen-point.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn xvi. 209 He bought a dollar fountain-pen, which had..a rather scratchy pen-point.
2003 Press & Sun-Bull. (N.Y.) (Nexis) 20 Aug. 8A My penpoint would splay and ink would spray in every direction.
pen portrait n. (a) now rare, a portrait executed in pen; (b) a written description of a person, place, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > description or act of describing > [noun] > graphic or vivid > a vivid description
imagec1522
picture1531
portraiture1592
portrait1596
word picture1835
photograph1841
pen portrait1850
1850 Ladies' Repository Apr. 143/2 We apologized, as well as we could, for the absence of the usual Pen-Portrait for the month.
1884 E. Yates Recoll. & Experiences II. 227 To visit and make a pen-portrait of him.
1998 Sunday Times (Nexis) 11 Oct. (Features section) I..ask myself whether a redundant Durham miner, or even a member of Tony Blair's new model Labour party, would find much of themselves in Paxman's pen portraits of England.
pen-scratch n. an ink mark made by a pen; a character written by hand.
ΚΠ
1848 N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 361 Let him but make any dithyrambic pen-scratches upon a piece of paper, and the Society of Northern Antiquaries would discover therein a copy of some Runic inscription.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch I. xx. 363 Observing his abundant pen-scratches and amplitude of paper.
1935 E. Armes Nancy Shippen 26 Closer study of the small treasure showed these lines inside the front cover..with a pen scratch deleting them.
2003 San Antonio (Texas) Express-News (Nexis) 9 Mar. 6J Yet we know they're doomed to failure, their pen-scratches a waste of the trees that they hug so passionately in the summertime.
pen-scratch stitch n. Embroidery a short stitch used for trimming.
ΚΠ
1928 Daily Express 6 July 5/3 Take..the pen-scratch stitch. These short stitches—three vertical, space, one horizontal, space, and so on—make a charming little trimming.
pen shell n. (the shell of) a large marine bivalve mollusc of the family Pinnidae, having a shell roughly resembling a quill pen in shape.
ΚΠ
1936 Science 14 Aug. 156/2 These ‘pen-shells’ must have been washed from their beds, quite likely in the hurricane.
1960 H. S. Zim Guide to Everglades 46 Pen shell is a fairly thin, narrow shell with rows of short spines. Washed onto beaches or found living in sand bars and coral mud flats.
1991 Southwest Winter 75/1 (caption) This eye-catching 5-strand fetish bird necklace set is handstrung with pen shell heishi and birds.
pen steel n. a resilient kind of steel used for pen nibs.
ΚΠ
1859 Engineer 16 Dec. 438/2 The orders for sheets have rather fallen off, more particularly for pen steel.
2000 Art Materials (was Glimmer Rats Casting) in alt.comics.2000ad (Usenet newsgroup) 3 Feb. The biggest issue is that old nibs were made with special ‘Pen Steel’ which was both smooth and springy, modern nibs tend to be made of ‘Spring Steel,’ which is just springy.
pentop n. Computing a small portable computer which has the facility to be controlled by an electronic pen.
ΚΠ
1990 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 2 May d8/1 Portable ‘pentop’ computers, notepad-sized machines into which the user enters data with a stylus rather than a keyboard.
2001 Health Managem. Technol. (Nexis) Sept. 68 Using digital handheld devices, pentops and laptop devices that plug directly into the computer, the tests are completed.
pen tray n. a narrow tray for pens, often forming part of an inkstand.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > other writing equipment > [noun] > pencil-case > long, narrow receptacle for pens
pen rack1851
pen tray1853
1853 Littell's Living Age 5 Mar. 452/2 A gros sabot serves them as a salt-box; mine shall perform the office of a pen-tray.
1993 Antique Dealer Aug. 5 (advt.) The bottom left knob pulls forward to operate a spring-loaded catch, which releases a small side drawer housing a pen tray.
pen-trial n. something written, esp. by a scribe on a manuscript, to test a pen.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > writing to test pen
pen-trial1923
1923 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 13 213 The patient amassing of data of all kinds from the scribblings and pen-trials of scribes to the character and details of the script.
1978 Notes & Queries Oct. 405/1 Additions to..the manuscript include the clarification of texts, pen-trials, [etc.].
1995 Past & Present 148 75 It was therefore a personal anthology and could be used to jot down names of ownership, pen-trials, private memoranda, scraps of songs or poems, and scribbles.
† pen-wet n. Scottish Obsolete mouldiness or disease in hay, grain, etc., due to the penetration of damp into sheaves during storage (see quot. 1851).
ΚΠ
1851 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (ed. 2) II. 365/1 Rain..would easily find its way, were the sheaves inclined downwards to the centre of the stack... The sheaves that are so spoiled are said to have taken in pen-wet.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words 531 Pen-wet, wet received into a stack from below the eaves.

Derivatives

ˈpenlike adj.
ΚΠ
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions v. 32 The penne or some other penlike instrument.
a1667 G. Wither Withers Redivivus (1689) 26 Witness Molinos and his pen-like Crew, If this be Justice, pray (My Lords) Judge you.
1875 Amer. Naturalist 9 32 The anterior end, for about an inch and a half, was rapidly narrowed to a pen-like point.
1993 Sci. Amer. Aug. 90/3 A penlike pointing device lets a reader unpack a full news story from a page full of abstracts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

penn.4

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Forms: 1500s–1600s penne, 1800s– pen.
Origin: Of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Compare cob n.1 2.Perhaps compare pen n.3
A female swan.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Cyginae (swans) > [noun] > member of genus Cygnus (miscellaneous) > cygnus olor (common swan) > female
penc1550
c1550 Order for Swannes §27 in Archæol. Inst. Lincoln (1850) 309 The cignettes shalbe seazed to the King, till due proof be had whos they are, and whos was the swan that is away, be it cobb, or penne.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 129 The hee swanne is called the Cobbe, and the shee-swanne the penne..the owner of the Cobbe is to have the one halfe, and the owner of the penne the other halfe.
1850 Fraser's Mag. July 29/1 As among barn-door fowls, we have a cock and a hen, we have, among swans, a cob and a pen.
1882 P. Robinson Noah's Ark x. 340 The female bird—technically called ‘the pen’—has equal claims to notice both for personal bravery and parental solicitude.
1937 Life 10 May 79/1 The pen..was sitting on her nest when Mr. Walker, the superintendent, approached too closely.
2001 Mirror (Nexis) 19 July (Features section) 46 When we see a mum and dad swan (pen and cob) with a brood of cygnets, we pick them up off the river..and ring their legs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

penn.5

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: penitentiary n.2
Etymology: Shortened < penitentiary n.2, probably with allusion to pen n.2
North American colloquial.
A penitentiary. Usually with the: prison. Cf. pen n.2 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > reformatory prison
workhouse?c1475
house of correction1575
bridewell1583
work-jail1619
correction-housec1625
rasp house1651
bettering house1735
bettering mansion1740
penitentiary house1779
penitentiary1807
work farm1835
farm1857
pen1881
prison-industrial complex1965
1881 Sat. Herald (Decatur, Illinois) 14 May 7 Lunsford and Stare are in the State pen, and can't fall into the clutches of the law again until their sentences expire.
1889 Provo (Utah Territory) Amer. 28 Mar. 1/4 What John got was eighteen months in the pen.
1910 ‘O. Henry’ Whirligigs xvii. 202 One year after I got to the pen, my daughter died.
1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely vi. 43 We got a wire from Oregon State Pen on him.
1967 Punch 22 Nov. 796/2 Semple..strangles her in a demented fit, and does eighteen years in the pen for it.
1993 B. Cross It's not about Salary 271 You get the underground knowledge growing up in the pen..so many talented niggas doing time.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

penv.1

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Inflections: Present participle penning; past tense and past participle penned;
Forms: Middle English–1600s penne, 1500s–1600s pend (past participle), 1500s–1600s ypend (past participle, archaic), 1500s– pen, 1600s pend (past tense), 1600s penn. Cf. pend v.2, pent adj.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pen n.2
Etymology: < pen n.2Earlier currency is implied by Old English onpennian to open (see unpen v.):eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxviii. 277 Ðæt wæter, ðonne hit bið gepynd, hit miclað & uppað... Ac gif sio pynding wierð onpennad,..ðonne toflewð hit eall.
1.
a. transitive. To enclose, shut in, confine, or trap (a person or thing). In later use usually with up or in. Also figurative. Cf. bepen vb. at be- prefix 1b, pent adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclosing or confining > enclose or confine [verb (transitive)]
pena1200
bebar?c1225
loukc1275
beshuta1300
parc1300
to shut in1398
to close inc1400
parrockc1400
pinc1400
steekc1400
lock?a1425
includec1425
key?a1439
spare?c1450
enferme1481
terminea1500
bebay1511
imprisona1533
besetc1534
hema1552
ram1567
warda1586
closet1589
pound1589
seclude1598
confine1600
i-pend1600
uptie1600
pinfold1605
boundify1606
incoop1608
to round in1609
ring1613
to buckle ina1616
embounda1616
swathe1624
hain1636
coopa1660
to sheathe up1661
stivea1722
cloister1723
span1844
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 43 (MED) Þe pit tineð his muð ouer þe man þe lið on fule synnen..gif ure ani is þus forswolgen and þus penned, clupe we to ure louerd ihesu crist.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vesp.) (1873) C. vii. 219 (MED) Pennede [c1400 Huntington Ich putte hem in pressours and pynned hem þerynne].
a1500 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1935) 271 (MED) In a panter I am caute; My fot his pennyd, I may not owt.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Oct. f. 41v Sonnebright honour pend [Gloss. shut vp in slouth, as in a coope or cage] in shamefull coupe .
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. F1 For with the nightlie linnen..He pens her piteous clamors in her head. View more context for this quotation
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 185 It is a custom..to Pen them up in too streight Swathing-bands.
1687 B. Randolph Present State Archipel. 34 The Venetian armada..have a custom never to be in any haven or port where they may be penn'd in.
1706 A. Boyer Ann. Queen Anne IV. 3 I narrowly missed being penn'd up in the bay of Gibraltar.
1791 J. Byng Diary 24 June in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 331 Had it caught me..at a tolerable inn, I had said ‘Very well’; but to be penn'd up here, would make me wild.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iii. i. 37 Beatrice..whom her father..pens up naked in damp cells..and starves her there.
1847 J. J. Oswandel Notes Mexican War (1885) ii. 82 After some hard fighting our men had to retreat to a ranch where they are now penned in.
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo xvi. 209 The first to reach it was a fat man who stuck fast in the narrow opening, thus penning his fellows in the inclosure with the excited beast.
1992 D. Glazer Last Oasis 40 After twenty-three hours penned up in here wi'yous, it's time for a breather... I wish yous 'ud wash your socks!
b. transitive. To confine or shut up (sheep, cattle, poultry, etc.); to put into or keep in a pen. Also with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > drive or put into enclosure
parc1300
foldc1440
house1578
pinfold1605
pen1607
enfold?1611
impen?1623
to get in1698
weara1724
yard1758
to run in1837
corral1847
paddock1847
kraal1865
1607 R. West Court of Conscience sig. B2 Thy silly flocks in plesant pastures greene,..Nor penn'd nor pounded in a pinfold keene.
c1610–15 Life St. Werburge in C. Horstmann Lives Women Saints (1886) 60 He pend them [sc. the wild geese] all fast in a house.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 185 Where Shepherds pen thir Flocks at eeve In hurdl'd Cotes. View more context for this quotation
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 417 When they are penned up they are more secure from the stote.
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. ii. 245 And on the moor the shepherd penned his fold.
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. iii, in Poems 128 Drive that stout Pig and pen him in thy Yard.
1891 Times 6 Oct. 9/6 The number of sheep penned showed an increase of 540 British and 830 foreign.
1941 E. Mittelholzer Corentyne Thunder xi. 56 As soon as the cows had been safely penned for the night, Ramgolall and his two daughters set out for Jannee's home.
1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 186 I crossed my fingers that he would pen those dogs.
†2. transitive. To fasten or lock (as with a bolt, etc.). Cf. pin v.1 1. (In quots. figurative) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close (a door, window, etc.) > bolt, bar, or lock
sparc1175
pena1200
louka1225
bara1300
shutc1320
lockc1325
clicketc1390
keyc1390
pinc1390
sneckc1440
belocka1450
spare?c1450
latch1530
to lock up1549
slot1563
bolt1574
to lock to?1575
double-lock1594
stang1598
obserate1623
padlock1722
button1741
snib1808
chain1839
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > confine [verb (transitive)]
beloukOE
loukOE
sparc1175
pena1200
bepen?c1225
pind?c1225
prison?c1225
spearc1300
stopc1315
restraina1325
aclosec1350
forbara1375
reclosea1382
ward1390
enclose1393
locka1400
reclusea1400
pinc1400
sparc1430
hamperc1440
umbecastc1440
murea1450
penda1450
mew?c1450
to shut inc1460
encharter1484
to shut up1490
bara1500
hedge1549
hema1552
impound1562
strain1566
chamber1568
to lock up1568
coop1570
incarcerate1575
cage1577
mew1581
kennel1582
coop1583
encagea1586
pound1589
imprisonc1595
encloister1596
button1598
immure1598
seclude1598
uplock1600
stow1602
confine1603
jail1604
hearse1608
bail1609
hasp1620
cub1621
secure1621
incarcera1653
fasten1658
to keep up1673
nun1753
mope1765
quarantine1804
peg1824
penfold1851
encoop1867
oubliette1884
jigger1887
corral1890
maroon1904
to bang up1950
to lock down1971
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 181 (MED) Ðan þe sowle fundeð to faren ut of hire licame, hie tuneð to hire fif gaten and penneð wel faste.
a1450 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Bodl.) (1869) B. xx. 296 (MED) Penne [c1400 Laud Conscience..made pees porter to pynne þe ȝates].
3. transitive. To confine (water) in a river or canal by means of a weir, dam, etc., so as to form a head of water; to dam up. Occasionally used intransitively. Also with back, up. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > form a pool [verb (intransitive)] > impound water
pen1576
the world > the earth > water > lake > pool > [verb (transitive)] > impound water
pindeOE
pen1576
pound1652
pond1673
1576 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 384 They..do..penne away the water in sommer.
1764 J. Burton Present State Navigation Thames 39 There will be no Occasion to penn up such a vast Weight of Water pressing on the Weir.
1791 R. Mylne in Rep. Engineers Commissioners Navigation Thames 51 This weir may be taken away if Godstow lock pens sufficiently high.
1840 Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 41 This mode of penning up the river so as to convert it into a dock.
1859 T. Lewin Invasion Brit. 90 At Wye is a mill-dam by which the water is penned back.
1998 Western Daily Press (Bristol) (Nexis) 22 June 10 Tidal mills were common in the Middle Ages on estuaries in Brittany, where water penned back at high tide would be released later to drive machinery.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

penv.2

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Inflections: Present participle penning; past tense and past participle penned;
Forms: late Middle English penne, 1500s penn, 1500s–1600s penne, 1500s– pen.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pen n.3
Etymology: < pen n.3 Compare earlier penned adj.1
†1. intransitive. To develop feathers; to become fledged. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > young bird > [verb (reflexive)] > become fledged
featherc1450
pen1486
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. bviiv (MED) [Hawks] shulde nott tyre on bonys tyll they myght flie. Then..when she begynnyth to penne, and plumyth..yeue hir good hote meetys.
2.
a. transitive. To write of or about; to set forth or describe in writing. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > [verb (transitive)] > describe in writing
writeOE
pena1527
pursue1558
thumbnail1932
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > be the author of or write (a work) [verb (transitive)] > express in written work or write about
writeOE
inditea1340
pena1527
pursue1558
to lay down1583
discur1586
paper1594
style1605
word1613
exercisea1616
bescribble1643
describble1794
bewrite1875
a1527 W. Peeris Chron. Family of Percy (1843–9) 10 Soe liberall a linage, a stocke soe reuerent soe prepotent a progenie of noble blood descended ought to bee registred, remembred, & penned.
a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 283 These..calamities, if they should be penned and set forth as the matter craveth.
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 7 Philammones penned the birth of Latona..in verse.
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Apostles Creed i. 129 Moses, who first penned the originall of humanity.
1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights II. xi. 234 Instead of penning his peculiar personal sufferings and distresses,..he harped on the cruel obligation of being held asunder from his friend.
1939 in R. S. Woodworth Psychological Issues Foreword vii The versatile hand that first penned these psychological issues.
2002 Yorks. Evening Post (Nexis) 27 Sept. Shocked pupils at Wortley High School penned their feelings after reading how the 87-year-old was attacked in his home.
b. transitive. To write or execute with a pen; to write, compose, or draw up (a document, book, piece of music, etc.); to set down in writing.†Formerly also with down (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > [verb (transitive)] > set down in writing
adighteOE
to set on writea900
dightc1000
writeOE
brevea1225
layc1330
indite1340
take1418
annote1449
printa1450
scribe1465
redact?a1475
reduce1485
letter1504
recite1523
to commit to writing (also paper)1529
pen1530
reduce?1533
token up1535
scripture1540
titulea1550
to set down1562
quote1573
to put down1574
paper1594
to write down1594
apprehend1611
fix1630
exarate1656
depose1668
put1910
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > be the author of or write (a work) [verb (transitive)]
setc888
adighteOE
awriteeOE
writeeOE
dightc1000
workOE
makelOE
brevea1225
ditea1300
aditec1330
indite1340
betravail1387
compone1393
saya1475
compile1477
compose1483
comprise1485
recite1523
pen1530
contex1542
invent1576
author1597
context1628
to make up1630
spawn1631
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 523/2 I can devyse a thing wel, but I can nat penne it.
1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xii. 71 This decre being penned by reason, both sound and custom did presentlie allow.
c1613 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 100 I have bene with Thomas Horton..& pennyt ij inquisicions of dyverse wayes.
1683 (title) Panegyrick upon folly, penn'd in Latin by Erasmus, rendered into English by White Kennett.
1709 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1886) II. 209 They..penn'd down the words they were to speak.
1747 J. Edwards True Saints vi Many of the psalms that David penned were songs of praise.
1852 N. Hawthorne Blithedale Romance viii. 81 Just think of him penning a sonnet with a fist like that!
1881 J. Doran Drury Lane II. 191 He penned and melodised hundreds of popular songs.
1976 A. McCaffrey Kilternan Legacy iii. 43 The letter..was penned in such a beautiful copperplate handwriting.
1999 Sunday Sport 3 Oct. 17/3 Brown finally betrayed The Beatles, penning a tell-all book The Love You Make.
c. intransitive. To use a pen; to write.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > [verb (intransitive)]
awriteeOE
writeOE
scrievec1390
to drive a pen (also quill)1788
pen-and-ink1801
screeve1851
pen1904
1904 T. Hardy Dynasts: Pt. 1st ii. ii. 64 He pens in fits, with pallid restlessness.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 301 He would pen for her, he would pine for her.
1990 Jrnl. Writing Equipm. Soc. No. 28. 20 We hear that the Romans may have penned with birds' feathers as well as reeds.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

penv.3

Brit. /pɛn/, U.S. /pɛn/
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: pen-and-ink v. 2
Etymology: Short for pen-and-ink v. 2. Compare earlier pen and ink n. 2.
British slang.
intransitive. To stink. rare.
ΚΠ
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1216/2 Pen.., to stink.
1972 G. F. Newman You Nice Bastard iv. 137 ‘I don't mind, provided he takes a bath.’ ‘Yeah, he does pen a bit.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

> as lemmas

PEN
PEN n. International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists.
ΚΠ
1923 Times 24 Apr. 15/1 Correspondence... The P.E.N. Club (Mr Galsworthy).
1969 L. Hellman Unfinished Woman xiii. 195 A reception for the president of PEN, an Englishman.
2000 C. Newland & K. Sesay IC3 452 He is a co-ordinator of the African Literature Forum, as well as the Writers in Exile Programme of International PEN.
extracted from Pn.
<
n.1OEn.21227n.3a1350n.4c1550n.51881v.1a1200v.21486v.31961
as lemmas
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