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penman

[pen-muh n]
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noun, plural pen·men.
  1. a person who writes or copies; scribe; copyist.
  2. an expert in penmanship.
  3. a writer or author.

Origin of penman

First recorded in 1585–95; pen1 + -man
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for penman

Historical Examples

  • Captain Penman was a man of few words, and these few he did not waste.

    Patsy

    S. R. Crockett

  • Captain Penman looked at the girl beside him, and was sorry for her disappointment.

    Patsy

    S. R. Crockett

  • In a word, he was transformed from the penman into the captain and man-at-arms.

    Voltaire

    John Morley

  • Dickinson has aptly been called the “Penman of the Revolution.”

  • Well, I often wish I were a penman; but I never could do it.

    Sybil

    Benjamin Disraeli

British Dictionary definitions for penman

penman

noun plural -men
  1. a person skilled in handwriting
  2. a person who writes by hand in a specified waya bad penman
  3. an author
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for penman

n.

1610s, "copyist, clerk, scrivener" (obsolete), from pen (n.1) + man (n.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper