Word.ws English Dictionary

penned

/pɛnd/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

pin pen merger/pɪnd/

penned is the simple past and past participle of pen.

Meaning of pen

Verb (1)

pen (third-person singular simple present pens, present participle penning, simple past and past participle penned or pent)

  1. (transitive) To enclose in a pen.
    • Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Verb (2)

pen (third-person singular simple present pens, present participle penning, simple past and past participle penned)

  1. (transitive) To write (an article, a book, etc.).
    • Prying open the crate, you discover a carefully wrapped, handwritten copy of one of Matriarch Dilinaga's treatises. It is unlikely she penned it herself, but the flowing brushwork and intricate watercolor illustrations clearly show the hand of a master scribe.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Nonuel
  2. (transitive, uncommon) To write or draw on (a surface) with a pen.
    • I penned up the walls with obscenities1973 May 5, Lou Sullivan, Diary

See all 19 meanings of pen

Adjective

penned (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) winged; having plumes

Phrases with penned

Words that rhyme with penned

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about penned

What does penned mean?
Penned means winged; having plumes.
What is penned the simple past and past participle of?
Penned is the simple past and past participle of pen.
What part of speech is penned?
Penned is an adjective.
How do you pronounce penned?
Penned is pronounced /pɛnd/.

Words near penned in the dictionary

  1. penne
  2. penne alla vodka
  3. penne rigate
  4. Pennebaker
  5. Pennebakers
  6. penned
  7. penned in
  8. penned up
  9. penneech
  10. Pennel
  11. Pennell

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: penned (page history and authors); pen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “penned.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penned. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.