Pen vs Pet - What's the difference?

pen | pet |

In transitive terms the difference between pen and pet

is that pen is to write (an article, a book, etc.) while pet is to stroke or fondle (an animal).

As an adjective pet is

favourite; cherished.

As an acronym PET is

polyethylene terephthalate.

pen

English

(wikipedia pen)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . More at pin. Sense “prison” originally figurative extension to enclosure for persons (1845), later influenced by

Noun

(en noun)

An enclosed area used to contain domesticated animals, especially sheep or cattle.

There are two steers in the third pen .

A place to confine a person; a prison cell.

They caught him with a stolen horse, and he wound up in the pen again.

(baseball) The bullpen.

Two righties are up in the pen .

Verb

To enclose in a pen.

* Milton

Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve.

Etymology 2

From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) (Modern English (m)); note the /p/ ? /f/ Germanic sound change. See feather and for more.

Noun

(en noun)

A tool, originally made from a feather but now usually a small tubular instrument, containing ink used to write or make marks.

He took notes with a pen .

(figurative) A writer, or his style.

He has a sharp pen .

* Fuller

those learned pens

A light pen.

(zoology) The internal cartilage skeleton of a squid, shaped like a pen.

A feather, especially one of the flight feathers of a bird, angel etc.

* 1590 , Edmund Spendser, The Faerie Queene , I.xi:

And eke the pennes , that did his pineons bynd, / Were like mayne-yards, with flying canuas lynd, / With which whenas him list the ayre to beat

(poetic) A wing.

(Milton)

Derived terms

* ball pen * ball-point pen * border pen * bull pen * cartridge pen * felt-tip pen * fountain pen * goose pen * lettering pen * pen cancellation * pen feather * pen-mate * penmanship * pen name * pen pal * pen-pusher * poison pen * you don't dip your pen in company ink

Verb

(penn)

To write (an article, a book, etc.).

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain.

Noun

(en noun)

A female swan.

Etymology 4

Shortned form of penalty

Noun

(en noun)

penalty

References

Anagrams

* English three-letter words 1000 English basic words ----

pet

English

Etymology 1

Attested since the 1500s in the sense "indulged child" and since the 1530s in the sense "animal companion"..'>citation The verb is derived from the noun.

Noun

(wikipedia pet) {{ picdic , image=Pudel miniatura 342.jpg , detail1= }} (en noun)

An animal kept as a companion.

One who is excessively loyal to a superior.

Any person or animal especially cherished and indulged; a darling.

* Tatler

the love of cronies, pets , and favourites

Synonyms

* companion animal

References

Verb

(pett)

To stroke or fondle (an animal).

(informal) To stroke or fondle (another person) amorously.

(informal) Of two or more people, to stroke and fondle one another amorously.

(dated) To treat as a pet; to fondle; to indulge.

His daughter was petted and spoiled.

(archaic) To be a pet.

(Feltham)

Derived terms

* pet cemetery * pet name * pet peeve * pet project * pet shop * pet store * petting * teacher's pet

Adjective

(-)

Favourite; cherished.

a pet child

a pet theory

* F. Harrison

Some young lady's pet curate.

Etymology 2

Noun

(en noun)

A fit of petulance, a sulk, arising from the impression that one has been offended or slighted.

* 1891 , Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country , Nebraska 2005, p. 105:

There was something ludicrous, even more, unbecoming a gentleman, in leaving a friend's house in a pet , with the host's reproaches sounding in his ears, to be matched only by the bitterness of the guest's sneering retorts.