Pen \Pen\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Penned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Penning}.]
   To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to
   compose; as, to pen a sonnet. "A prayer elaborately penned."
   --Milton.
   
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Pen \Pen\ (p[e^]n), n. [OE. penne, OF. penne, pene, F. penne,
   fr. L. penna.]
   1. A feather. [Obs.] --Spenser.
      
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   2. A wing. [Obs.] --Milton.
      
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   3. An instrument used for writing with ink, formerly made of
      a reed, or of the quill of a goose or other bird, but now
      also of other materials, as of steel, gold, etc. Also,
      originally, a stylus or other instrument for scratching or
      graving.
      
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            Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock. --Job
                                                  xix. 24.
      
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   4. Fig.: A writer, or his style; as, he has a sharp pen.
      "Those learned pens." --Fuller.
      
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   5. (Zool.) The internal shell of a squid.
      
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   6. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zool.) A female swan; -- contrasted
      with {cob}, the male swan. [Prov. Eng.]
      
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   {Bow pen}. See {Bow-pen}.

   {Dotting pen}, a pen for drawing dotted lines.

   {Drawing pen}, or {Ruling pen}, a pen for ruling lines having
      a pair of blades between which the ink is contained.

   {Fountain pen}, {Geometric pen}. See under {Fountain}, and
      {Geometric}.

   {Music pen}, a pen having five points for drawing the five
      lines of the staff.

   {Pen and ink}, or {pen-and-ink}, executed or done with a pen
      and ink; as, a pen and ink sketch.

   {Pen feather}. A pin feather. [Obs.]

   {Pen name}. See under {Name}.

   {Sea pen} (Zool.), a pennatula. [Usually written {sea-pen}.]
      
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Pen \Pen\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Penned}or {Pent} (?); p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Penning}.] [OE. pennen, AS. pennan in on-pennan to
   unfasten, prob. from the same source as pin, and orig.
   meaning, to fasten with a peg.See {Pin}, n. & v.]
   To shut up, as in a pen or cage; to confine in a small
   inclosure or narrow space; to coop up, or shut in; to
   inclose. "Away with her, and pen her up." --Shak.
   
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         Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve.
                                                  --Milton.
   
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Pen \Pen\, n.
   1. [From {Pen} to shut in.] A small inclosure; as, a pen for
      sheep or for pigs.
      
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            My father stole two geese out of a pen. --Shak.
      
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   2. [From penitentiary.] A penitentiary[6]; a prison. [Slang]
      [PJC]

Penitentiary \Pen`i*ten"tia*ry\, n.; pl. {Penitentiaries}. [Cf.
   F. p['e]nitencier. See {Penitent}.]
   1. One who prescribes the rules and measures of penance.
      [Obs.] --Bacon.
      
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   2. One who does penance. [Obs.] --Hammond.
      
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   3. A small building in a monastery where penitents confessed.
      --Shpiley.
      
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   4. That part of a church to which penitents were admitted.
      --Shipley.
      
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   5. (R. C. Ch.)
      (a) An office of the papal court which examines cases of
          conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc.,
          and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc. Its chief
          is a cardinal, called the Grand Penitentiary,
          appointed by the pope.
      (b) An officer in some dioceses since A. D. 1215, vested
          with power from the bishop to absolve in cases
          reserved to him.
          
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   6. A house of correction, in which offenders are confined for
      punishment, discipline, and reformation, and in which they
      are generally compelled to labor; a prison; a jail.
      Colloquially often shortened to {pen}.
      
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