pen

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also Appendix:Variations of "pen"

Contents

English [edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

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

Sense “prison” originally figurative extension to enclosure for persons (1845), later influenced by penitentiary (“prison”), being analyzed as an abbreviation (1884).[1]

Noun [edit]

pen (plural pens)

  1. An enclosed area used to contain domesticated animals, especially sheep or cattle.
    There are two steers in the third pen.
  2. A place to confine a person; a prison cell.
    They caught him with a stolen horse, and he wound up in the pen again.
  3. (baseball) The bullpen.
    Two righties are up in the pen.
Translations [edit]
enclosed area for animals
prison cell
(baseball) bullpen — see bullpen

Verb [edit]

pen (third-person singular simple present pens, present participle penning, simple past and past participle penned or pent)

  1. (transitive) To enclose in a pen.
    • Milton
      Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve.
Translations [edit]
to enclose

Etymology 2 [edit]

A ballpoint pen, showing assembly.

Anglo-Norman penne, from Old French penne, from Latin penna (“feather”), from Proto-Indo-European *petna-, from *pet- (“to rush, fly”) (from which petition). Proto-Indo-European base also root of *petra-, from which πτερόν (pteron, “wing”) (whence pterodactyl), Sanskrit patram (“wing, feather”), Old Church Slavonic pero (“pen”), Old Norse fjöðr, Old English feðer (Modern English feather);[1] note the /p/ → /f/ Germanic sound change.

See feather and πέτομαι for more.

Noun [edit]

pen (plural pens)

  1. A tool, originally made from a feather but now usually a small tubular instrument, containing ink used to write or make marks.
    He took notes with a pen.
  2. (zoology) The internal cartilage skeleton of a squid, shaped like a pen.
  3. (now rare, poetic, dialectal) A feather, especially one of the flight feathers of a bird, angel etc.
    • 1590, Edmund Spendser, The Faerie Queene, I.xi:
      And eke the pennes, that did his pineons bynd, / Were like mayne-yards, with flying canuas lynd, / With which whenas him list the ayre to beat [...].
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from pen (noun-etymology 2)
Translations [edit]
writing tool
internal cartilage skeleton of a squid

Verb [edit]

pen (third-person singular simple present pens, present participle penning, simple past and past participle penned)

  1. (transitive) To write (an article, a book, etc.).
Translations [edit]
to write

Etymology 3 [edit]

Origin uncertain.

Noun [edit]

pen (plural pens)

  1. A female swan.
Translations [edit]
female swan

Etymology 4 [edit]

Shortned form of penalty

Noun [edit]

pen (plural pens)

  1. penalty

References [edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “pen” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Anagrams [edit]

Danish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From late Old Norse penni, from Latin penna (“feather”).

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /pɛn/, [pʰɛnˀ]

Noun [edit]

pen c (singular definite pennen, plural indefinite penne)

  1. pen
  2. quill
  3. pane, peen

Inflection [edit]

    Inflection of pen
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative pen pennen penne pennene
genitive pens pennens pennes pennenes

Dutch [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

pen f, m (plural pennen, diminutive pennetje)

  1. a pen (writing utensil)
  2. a pin

Derived terms [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

Japanese [edit]

Romanization [edit]

pen

  1. See ペン

Lojban [edit]

Rafsi [edit]

pen

  1. rafsi of penmi.

Mandarin [edit]

Romanization [edit]

pen

  1. Nonstandard spelling of pēn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of pén.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of pěn.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of pèn.

Usage notes [edit]

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Mapudungun [edit]

Verb [edit]

pen (using Raguileo Alphabet)

  1. to see

Synonyms [edit]

Norwegian [edit]

Adjective [edit]

pen

  1. beautiful
  2. long
  3. multicolored
  4. colorful

Tok Pisin [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From English paint.

Noun [edit]

pen

  1. paint

Etymology 2 [edit]

From English pen.

Noun [edit]

pen

  1. pen

Etymology 3 [edit]

From English pain.

Noun [edit]

pen

  1. pain
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 3:16 (translation here):
      Na God i tokim meri olsem, “Bai mi givim yu bikpela hevi long taim yu gat bel. Na bai yu gat bikpela pen long taim yu karim pikinini. Tasol bai yu gat bikpela laik yet long man bilong yu, na bai em i bosim yu.”


This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Tok Pisin is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Welsh [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Proto-Celtic *kʷenno-; compare Irish ceann, Breton penn.

Adjective [edit]

pen (equative penned, comparative pennach, superlative pennaf)

  1. head
  2. chief
  3. supreme, principal

Noun [edit]

pen m (plural pennau) 

  1. head
  2. chief
  3. top, apex
  4. end, extremity

Mutation [edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
pen ben mhen phen
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=pen&oldid=20577999"