pen
part of speech
noun (pen, pens); verb (pen, pens, penned, penning)
meaning for a pupil
1) A pen is a tool for writing or drawing with ink. tree →
2) A pen is also a small fenced place for animals, like a sheep pen or pig pen. tree →
3) To pen is to write: «she penned a letter». tree →
4) To pen in animals is to shut them in a pen. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In Sefer Yetzirah it means a writing tool, used as a picture for how the tongue expresses what the mind thinks. In the Tanakh it is the tool of scribes and an iron pen cutting words in rock, and the tongue is called the pen of a ready writer. Interpretation: Jeremiah's "vain pen of the scribes" is read as a charge that the scribes twisted the Torah. Job's wish for words cut in rock forever is read as longing for his words to last. In the primary lessons: In maths: a thing counted or bought; price per pen; also an animal pen (count the animals inside; fence around it is a perimeter). In school: «write in pen, not pencil». In farming: sheep pens, pig pens. In stories: a pen pal is a friend you write letters to.
examples
- The tongue is, as it were, the descriptive pen of all the spiritual issues, and the genital parts are the originators of the corporeal substances. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
- Lo, certainly in vain hath wrought the vain pen of the scribes. (Prophets JER.8.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever! (Writings JOB.19.24, JPS 1917) tree →
- My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I say: 'My work is concerning a king'; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. (Writings PSA.45.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- She has 8 pens. tree →
- Each pen costs 2 dollars. tree →
- The pigs are in a pen. tree →
- The pen has 4 sheep in it. tree →
- Please write your name in blue pen. tree →
- My pen ran out of ink. tree →
- The farmer built a pen for the lambs. tree →
- I have a pen pal in New Zealand. tree →
- She penned a short poem. tree →
note
A thing counted. Price per pen is a rate. Trap: a «pen» for animals is a place; count the animals inside. The fence around a pen is its perimeter. «Pen» and «pencil» are different: ink cannot be rubbed out.
In the corpora
- Lo, certainly in vain hath wrought the vain pen of the scribes.
- That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!
- Sheepdog trials are real competitions where dog and shepherd move sheep through gates and into a pen.
- Fish come from the wild sea or from fish farms, like the round floating net pens in Scottish lochs.
- Many schools use a special pen colour, often purple or green, for edits, so the teacher can see the improvements.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «pen» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.