pen

Meaning

Noun

1. An enclosure (enclosed area) used to contain domesticated animals, especially sheep or cattle.
2. (slang) A penitentiary, i.e. a state or federal prison for convicted felons.
3. The bullpen.

Verb

To enclose in a pen.

Verb

To write (an article, a book, etc.).

pan

• Noun
• Verb
• Verb
• Verb
• Adj

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Synonyms

pencil

📝

corral

enclosure

fold

cage

stable

writing brush

fountain pen

🖋️

write

✍️

coop

stall

quill

shed

yard

compose

playpen

feather

🪶

ballpoint pen

indite

writer

✍️🧑‍🦱

ballpoint

confine

fence

penitentiary

kraal

swan

🦢

writing instrument

cygnet

cowshed

wall

writing implement

run

stick

fencing

author

stylus

pigsty

cob

clink

paddock

jot

pound

💷

draw

draft

chateau

doodle

dam up

castle

🏰

bars

Cygnus

Translations

stylo

🖊️

penna

🪶

pluma

🪶

parc

🏞️

caneta

🖊️

pen

plume

🪶

bolígrafo

Feder

🪶

recinto

Füller

🖋️

Kugelschreiber

clôture

قلم

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɛn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: pen

Inherited from Old English: penn

Inherited from Middle English: pennen

Inherited from Old English: *pennian

Cognate with Low German: pennen

Inherited from Middle English: penne

Cognate with Ancient Greek: πτερόν

Cognate with Sanskrit: पत्रम्

Cognate with Church Slavic: перо

Cognate with Old Norse: fjǫðr

Cognate with Old English: feðer

In summary

From Middle English pen, penne (“enclosure for animals”), from Old English penn (“enclosure, fold, pen”), from Proto-Germanic *pennō, *pannijō (“pin, bolt, nail, tack”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“pointed peg, nail, edge”). Related to pin.
Sense “prison” originally figurative extension to “enclosure for persons” (1845), later influenced by penitentiary (“prison”), being analyzed as an abbreviation (1884).

Sentences

If a pen has no ink , it's broken .