pen
/pɛn/
UK: /pɛn/
pen
English
Noun Top 2,573
American (Amy)
(medium)
Female
0.6s
American (Lessac)
(medium)
Female
0.6s
American (Ryan)
(medium)
Male
0.2s
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Definition
An enclosure (enclosed area) used to contain domesticated animals, especially sheep or cattle.
Etymology
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).
Example Sentences
- "There are two steers in the third pen."
- "They caught him with a stolen horse, and he wound up in the pen again."
- "Two righties are up in the pen."
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