pen

1 of 8

verb (1)

ˈpen 

penned; penning

transitive verb

: to shut in or as if in a pen

The cattle were penned behind a wooden fence.

pen

2 of 8

noun (1)

1

a

: a small enclosure for animals

b

: the animals in a pen

a pen of sheep

2

: a small place of confinement or storage

3

: a protected dock or slip for a submarine

4

: bullpen sense 2

pen

3 of 8

noun (2)

1

: an implement for writing or drawing with ink or a similar fluid: such as

a

: quill

b

: pen point

c

: a penholder containing a pen point

d

: fountain pen

e

: ballpoint pen

2

a

: a writing instrument regarded as a means of expression

enlisted the pens of the best writers

—F. H. Chase

b

: writer

3

: the internal horny feather-shaped shell of a squid

4

: stylus sense d

5

: a medical device for injecting drugs that resembles a fountain pen, contains a cartridge prefilled with usually several doses of medication, and when designed for multiple injections has a needle that is replaced after each use

insulin pens

People accidentally exposed to a food culprit can use the pen to inject themselves with a dose of epinephrine—also known as adrenaline—to avoid a severe allergic reaction.

—Walecia Konrad

pen

4 of 8

verb (2)

penned; penning

transitive verb

: write, indite

pen a letter

pen

5 of 8

noun (3)

: a female swan

pen

6 of 8

noun (4)

: penitentiary

pen

7 of 8

abbreviation (1)

peninsula

PEN

8 of 8

abbreviation (2)

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

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• box (in)
• cage
• closet
• coop (up)
• corral
• encage
• encase
• enclose
• inclose
• envelop
• fence (in)
• hedge
• hem (in)
• house
• immure
• include
• mew (up)
• wall (in)

Noun (1)

• cage
• coop
• corral
• hutch
• pound

Noun (2)

• author
• litterateur
• littérateur
• penman
• scribe
• scrivener
• writer

Verb (2)

• author
• scratch (out)
• scribble
• write

Noun (4)

• bastille
• big house [slang]
• bridewell
• brig
• calaboose
• can
• clink [slang]
• cooler
• coop
• guardroom
• hock
• hold
• hoosegow
• jail
• jailhouse
• joint [slang]
• jug
• lockup
• nick [British slang]
• penitentiary
• pokey [slang]
• prison
• quod [British slang]
• slam
• slammer
• stir [slang]
• stockade
• tolbooth [Scottish]

Examples of pen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Two-actor musicals are still relatively rare, and only a fraction of those are penned for both roles to be played by women. —Ashley Lee, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Liefeld will pen a memoir titled Robservations, which BenBella Publishing will release early next year. —Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Apr. 2024

The signatures penned by these types of adversity are further modified by their timing. —Marc D. Hauser, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024

Appropriate is penned by two-time Pulitzer prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Lila Neugebauer. —Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024

That same year, Beyoncé penned an essay about Obama, who was listed in Time‘s Most Influential People list. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024

The vessel was penned by Enrico Gobbi’s Team for Design and the technical department of Palumbo Superyachts, a.k.a. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 29 Mar. 2024

Ask Andy…Fortune’s Ask Andy column, penned by Bonobos cofounder and Burn Rate author, has debuted! —Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2024

The remainder of the new tracks were penned by songwriters that Nelson admires such as Shawn Camp, Mike Reid, and Bobby Tomberlin. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 26 Mar. 2024

Noun

The audience sits on all four sides of their pen, where actors costumed as black and white sheep wander about dead-eyed, baa-ing, munching lettuce and attempting to escape. —Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2024

Supporters of Donald Trump roamed a pen that was set up to house them. —Lachlan Cartwright, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024

This treatment, commonly available as a pen, pump, or syringe, helps replace the insulin that your body does not make. —Barbie Cervoni, Health, 2 Apr. 2024

Right now, all three storage capacities (16, 32, and 64 GB) are on sale with the option for either type of pen. —Cierra Cowan, PCMAG, 1 Apr. 2024

Synthetic insulin, the new study finds, can be made for about $11 for a box of 5 pens, including the cost of the needle and a 10% profit. —Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2024

The writing was done with a pen normally used to make henna patterns on skin. —Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024

Destroy All Monsters also speaks to the horror-loving kid inside all Godzilla fans by moving the action to Monster Island, a kaiju holding pen created by the United Nations. —Katie Rife, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2024

The unanswered question: Will the ‘pen be any better than last season? —Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 25 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English pennen, from Old English -pennian

Noun (1)

Middle English, perhaps from pennen

Noun (2)

Middle English penne, from Anglo-French, feather, pen, from Latin penna, pinna feather; akin to Greek pteron wing — more at feather

Noun (3)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Verb (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

circa 1550, in the meaning defined above

Noun (4)

1881, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing pen

• ballpoint pen
• bull pen
• light pen
• felt-tip pen
• fountain pen
• pen in
• pen friend
• pen pal
• pen point
• pen name
• poison-pen
• pen up
• put/set pen to paper
• put pen to paper
• with a (single) stroke of a/the/his/her pen
• poison-pen letter
• sea pen
• the pen
• pen pusher

Kids Definition

pen

1 of 5 noun

ˈpen 

1

: a small enclosure for animals

2

: a small place of confinement or storage

pen

2 of 5 verb

penned; penning

: to shut in a pen

pen

3 of 5 noun

: an instrument for writing or drawing with ink

pen

4 of 5 verb

penned; penning

: to write especially with a pen

pen

5 of 5 noun

slang

: penitentiary

Etymology

Noun

Middle English

Noun

Middle English penne "a writing instrument made from a bird's feather," from early French penne "a bird's feather, pen," from Latin penna, pinna "feather"

Noun

a shortened form of penitentiary

Word Origin

The words pen and pencil look very much alike, and the writing instruments themselves have much in common. But these two words are not at all related. Pen can be traced back to the Latin word penna or pinna, meaning "feather." The early pens were made of long feathers trimmed to a point to hold ink. In time, pens came to be made with metal points and later with rolling balls instead of points. For this reason we no longer associate the word pen with feathers. Pencil can be traced to the Latin word penicillus, which meant "little tail" or "brush." (It also gave us our word penicillin.) The first pencils were artists' brushes that had fine hairs drawn to a point, like the tail of a tiny animal. From these first pencils, used for painting fine lines, the word came to be used for other instruments used to draw marks. Some pencils were sticks of charcoal. Others were sticks of slate or lead. Still others were sticks of colored material like crayons. In time, we began using our modern wood and graphite pencils, which are not at all like the original "little tails."

Medical Definition

pen

noun

ˈpen 

: a medical device for injecting drugs that resembles a fountain pen, contains a cartridge prefilled with usually several doses of medication, and when designed for multiple injections has a needle that is replaced after each use

Note: Medical pens are either disposable or reusable depending on whether the cartridge can be removed and replaced with a new prefilled one.

In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas can no longer produce insulin and patients must give themselves multiple daily injections with insulin pens or syringes …

—The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)

Illinois law allows schools to keep epinephrine pens around, and nurses or trained staff are allowed to use them in an emergency.

—Mike Riopell, The Chicago Daily Herald