pent

[ pent ]

/ pɛnt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pent ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of pen².

adjective

shut in; confined.

Nearby words

pensively, penstemon, penstock, pensée, pensées, pent, pent-up, pent., penta-, pentachloronitrobenzene, pentachlorophenol

Origin of pent

past participle of late Middle English pend (now obsolete), variant of pen² (v.); cf. spend

Definition for pent (2 of 6)

pent

[ pent ]

/ pɛnt /

noun

penthouse(def 4).

Origin of pent

by shortening

Definition for pent (3 of 6)

pen

[ pen ]

/ pɛn /

noun

any of various instruments for writing or drawing with ink or a similar substance.

a detachable metal penpoint, filled by dipping or with a quill; nib.

such a penpoint with its penholder.

fountain pen.

ball-point pen.

the pen as the instrument of writing or authorship: The pen is mightier than the sword.

a person's style or quality of writing: He writes with a witty, incisive pen.

a writer: I leave this story to abler pens.

the profession of writing: a master of the pen.

Computers. stylus(def 3).

Ornithology.

a quill.
a pinfeather.

something resembling or suggesting a feather or quill.

Zoology. an internal, corneous or chitinous, feather-shaped structure in certain cephalopods, as the squid.

verb (used with object), penned, pen·ning.

to write with or as with a pen; put down in writing: to pen an essay.

to draw with or as with a pen: to pen a sketch.

Origin of pen

1250–1300; Middle English penne < Old French penne pen, feather < Late Latin penna, Latin: feather

Related formspen·like, adjectivepen·ner, noun

Definition for pent (4 of 6)

pen

[ pen ]

/ pɛn /

noun

a small enclosure for domestic animals.

animals so enclosed: We have a pen of twenty sheep.

an enclosure used for confinement or safekeeping: We have built several pens to hold our harvest of corn.

playpen.

bull pen.

a dock having a protective concrete structure overhead, used to service and repair submarines.

verb (used with object), penned or pent, pen·ning.

to confine in or as in a pen.

Origin of pen

before 1000; (noun) Middle English penne, Old English penn (in compounds); perhaps akin to pin; (v.) Middle English pennen, derivative of the noun

Definition for pent (5 of 6)

penta-

a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek, meaning “five” (Pentateuch); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (pentavalent).

Also especially before a vowel, pent-.

Origin of penta-

< Greek pent-, penta-, comb. forms representing pénte five

Definition for pent (6 of 6)

Pent.

Pentecost.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pent

Perhaps so much so that he aroused whatever cruelty and anger and lunacy that Hernandez may have had pent up.
Etan Patz: Painfully Obvious Evidence|Michael Daly|May 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Enough demand remains “pent up,” Mulally said, that the end of Cash for Clunkers will not kill sales in the fourth quarter.
Ford's Stealthy Success|Allan Dodds Frank|September 23, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Skipper Simms kept the men busy painting and holystoning as a vent for their pent emotions.
The Mucker|Edgar Rice Burroughs
There was something curiously suggestive of pent up fury in the poses they had fallen into.
Long Odds|Harold Bindloss

I had seen them indeed after they had been killed, or pent up in boxes to be sent to England.
The History of Virginia, in Four Parts|Robert Beverley
McCoy found a stifling, poisonous atmosphere in the pent cabin.
South Sea Tales|Jack London
Who outside could have imagined that a human being was pent within that fiery furnace?
Satan Sanderson|Hallie Erminie Rives

British Dictionary definitions for pent (1 of 7)

pent

/ (pɛnt) /

verb

a past tense and past participle of pen 2

British Dictionary definitions for pent (2 of 7)

PEN

/ (pɛn) /

n acronym for

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

British Dictionary definitions for pent (3 of 7)

penta-

combining form

fivepentagon; pentameter; pentaprism

Word Origin for penta-

from Greek pente five

British Dictionary definitions for pent (4 of 7)

pen

/ (pɛn) /

noun

an implement for writing or drawing using ink, formerly consisting of a sharpened and split quill, and now of a metal nib attached to a holderSee also ballpoint, fountain pen

the writing end of such an implement; nib

style of writing

the pen

writing as an occupation
the written wordthe pen is mightier than the sword

the long horny internal shell of a squid

verb pens, penning or penned

(tr) to write or compose

Word Origin for pen

Old English pinne, from Late Latin penna (quill) pen, from Latin: feather

British Dictionary definitions for pent (5 of 7)

pen

/ (pɛn) /

noun

an enclosure in which domestic animals are keptsheep pen

any place of confinement

a dock for servicing submarines, esp one having a bombproof roof

verb pens, penning, penned or pent

(tr) to enclose or keep in a pen

Word Origin for pen

Old English penn, perhaps related to pin

British Dictionary definitions for pent (6 of 7)

pen

/ (pɛn) /

noun

US and Canadian informal short for penitentiary (def. 1)

British Dictionary definitions for pent (7 of 7)

pen

⁴

/ (pɛn) /

noun

a female swan

Word Origin for pen

C16: of unknown origin

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 pent (1 of 7)

pent

adj.

"kept in, confined," 1540s, variant of penned, past participle of pen (v.2). Pent-up (also pent up) is from 1580s.

Word Origin and History for pent (1 of 7)

pen

n.1

"writing implement," late 13c., from Old French pene "quill pen; feather" (12c.) and directly from Latin penna "a feather, plume," in plural "a wing," in Late Latin, "a pen for writing," from Old Latin petna, pesna, from PIE *pet-na-, suffixed form of root *pet- "to rush; to fly" (see petition (n.)).

Latin penna and pinna "a feather, plume;" in plural "a wing;" also "a pinnacle; battlement" (see pin (n.)) are treated as identical in Watkins, etc., but regarded as separate (but confused) Latin words by Tucker and others, who derive pinna from PIE *spei- "sharp point" (cf. spike (n.1)) and see the "feather/wing" sense as secondary.

In later French, this word means only "long feather of a bird," while the equivalent of English plume is used for "writing implement," the senses of the two words thus are reversed from the situation in English. Pen-and-ink (adj.) is attested from 1670s. Pen name is recorded from mid-19c.

Word Origin and History for pent (2 of 7)

pen

n.2

"enclosure for animals," Old English penn, penne, "enclosure, pen, fold," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Old English pinn "pin, peg" (see pin (n.)) on notion of a bolted gate or else "structure made of pointed stakes."

Word Origin and History for pent (3 of 7)

penta-

word-forming element meaning "five, containing five," from Greek penta- (before a vowel pent-), comb. form of pente "five," related to Aeolian pempte (see five), with -a- by analogy of hepta-, ennea-, deka-.

Word Origin and History for pent (4 of 7)

pen

v.1

late 15c., from pen (n.). Related: Penned; penning.

Word Origin and History for pent (5 of 7)

pen

v.2

"to enclose in a pen," c.1200, from Old English *pennian, from the source of pen (n.2). Related: Penned; penning.

Word Origin and History for pent (6 of 7)

pen

n.3

slang, "prison," 1884, shortening of penitentiary; earlier use (1845) probably is a figurative extension of pen (n.2).

pent

verb

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of pent

Definition for pent (2 of 6)

pent

noun

Origin of pent

Definition for pent (3 of 6)

pen

noun

verb (used with object), penned, pen·ning.

Origin of pen

Definition for pent (4 of 6)

pen

noun

verb (used with object), penned or pent, pen·ning.

Origin of pen

Definition for pent (5 of 6)

penta-

Origin of penta-

Definition for pent (6 of 6)

Pent.

Examples from the Web for pent

British Dictionary definitions for pent (1 of 7)

pent

verb

British Dictionary definitions for pent (2 of 7)

PEN

n acronym for

British Dictionary definitions for pent (3 of 7)

penta-

combining form

Word Origin for penta-

British Dictionary definitions for pent (4 of 7)

pen

noun

verb pens, penning or penned

Word Origin for pen

British Dictionary definitions for pent (5 of 7)

pen

noun

verb pens, penning, penned or pent

Word Origin for pen

British Dictionary definitions for pent (6 of 7)

pen

noun

British Dictionary definitions for pent (7 of 7)

pen

noun

Word Origin for pen

Word Origin and History for pent (1 of 7)

pent

Word Origin and History for pent (1 of 7)

pen

Word Origin and History for pent (2 of 7)

pen

Word Origin and History for pent (3 of 7)

penta-

Word Origin and History for pent (4 of 7)

pen

Word Origin and History for pent (5 of 7)

pen

Word Origin and History for pent (6 of 7)

pen

Medicine definitions for pent

penta-

pref.

Idioms and Phrases with pent

pen