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pen(2) (iou)



pen noun2. ME.
[Old & mod. French penne from Latin penna feather, (pl.) pinions, wings, (in late Latin) pen.]
I. A writing tool.
Orig., a feather with its quill sharpened and split to form a nib, used for writing or drawing by being traced over a surface after being dipped in ink. Now, a small instrument consisting of a metal nib fitted into a holder, used for writing or drawing with ink; the nib of such an instrument; gen. any instrument for writing or drawing with ink. ME.
cartridge-pen, drawing-pen, fountain-pen, marker-pen, quill pen, stylographic pen, etc.
P. Auster Quinn did all his writing with a pen, using a typewriter only for final drafts.
b. transf. The practice of writing; a particular style of writing; a writer, an author, (now rare). LME.
B. Montgomery The old adage was probably correct: the pen was mightier than the sword. R. Deacon Aphra Behn was forced to support herself..not only by the pen, but as a..secret agent.
An instrument resembling a pen in form or function; spec. (a) an engraver's tool; (b) a pencil (now dial.); (c) a light-pen or similar device used to enter commands or data into a computer. LME.
II. A feather, a quill.
a. A feather of a bird. obsolete exc. dial. LME.
b. In pl. The flight-feathers or pinions of birds regarded as the organs of flight; wings. Now poet. & arch. LME.
c. A short rudimentary feather. Chiefly dial. E19.
spec. The quill of a feather. obsolete exc. dial. LME.
transf.
a. A pipe or tube resembling a quill. rare. LME-L16.
b. A spoon, orig. one made out of a quill, used for taking snuff. Scot. & dial. L18.
c. The rigid petiole or midrib of a leaf. dial. E19.
d. = GLADIUS 2. L19.
Phrases: put pen to paper begin writing. slip of the pen: see SLIP noun3 8.
Comb.: pencraft rare the skill or occupation of writing; pen-feather (a) a quill-feather of a bird's wing; (b) an undeveloped feather; pen-feathered adjective (a) (of a young bird) having undeveloped feathers, not fully fledged; fig. immature; (b) (of a horse or its coat) rough and bristly; pen-friend a friend communicated with only (and usu. regularly) by letter; pen-gun (a) Scot. (arch.) a pop-gun made from a quill; (b) (Pen) (US proprietary name for) a small cylindrical gas bomb; penholder (a) a cylindrical rod or tube of wood, metal, plastic, etc., to which the nib of a pen may be fixed, forming the handle of the pen; (b) a similar tube, often on its own base, into which (part of) a pen may be inserted; (c) penholder grip, in table tennis, a grip in which the bat is held between thumb and forefinger; pen-light a small electric torch shaped like a fountain-pen; pen-name a literary pseudonym; pen-pal colloq. = pen-friend above; pen recorder an instrument for producing a continuous graphical record of a variable measured quantity by means of a pen; pen recording: made by a pen recorder; pen shell = fan mussel s.v. FAN noun1; penwiper (a) a usu. small piece of cloth etc. for cleaning a pen by wiping the ink from it; (b) slang a handkerchief; penwoman a woman skilled in using a pen; a female writer; penwork work done with a pen, esp. the decoration and ornamental lettering of illuminated books and manuscripts.
penful noun (now rare) the quantity (of ink) taken up by a pen at one dip M16.
penlike adjective resembling a pen L16.