Category:Pen

Pen, n. Etym: [oe. penne, of. penne, pene, f. penne, fr. L. penna.]

1. A feather. [obs.] Spenser.

2. A wing. [obs.] Milton.

3. An instrument used for writing with ink, formerly made of a reed, Or of the quill of a goose or other bird, but now also of other Materials, as of steel, gold, etc. Also, originally, a stylus or Other instrument for scratching or graving. Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock. Job xix. 24.

4. Fig.: A writer, or his style; as, he has a sharp pen. "those Learned pens." Fuller.

5. (zoöl.)

Defn: the internal shell of a squid.

6. Etym: [etymol. uncertain.] (zoöl.)

Defn: a female swan. [prov. Eng.] Bow pen. See bow-pen. -- dotting pen, a pen for drawing dotted lines. -- drawing, or ruling, pen, a pen for ruling lines having a pair of Blades between which the ink is contained. -- fountain pen, geometric pen. See under fountain, and geometric. -- music pen, a pen having five points for drawing the five lines of The staff. -- pen and ink, or pen-and-ink, executed or done with a pen and ink; As, a pen and ink sketch. -- pen feather. A pin feather. [obs.] -- pen name. See under name. -- sea pen (zoöl.), a pennatula. [usually written sea-pen.]

Pen Pen, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penned; p. pr. & vb. n. Penning.]

Defn: to write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to Compose; as, to pen a sonnet. "a prayer elaborately penned." Milton.

Pen Pen, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penned or pent (p. pr. & vb. n. Penning.] Etym: [oe. pennen, as. pennan in on-pennan to unfasten, prob. from The same source as pin, and orig. meaning, to fasten with a peg.See Pin, n. & v.]

Defn: to shut up, as in a pen or cage; to confine in a small Inclosure or narrow space; to coop up, or shut in; to inclose. "away With her, and pen her up." Shak. Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve. Milton.

Pen Pen, n. Etym: [from pen to shut in.]

Defn: a small inclosure; as, a pen for sheep or for pigs. My father stole two geese out of a pen. Shak.