What is "bow pen"

Pen \Pen\, n. [OE. penne, OF. penne, pene, F. penne, fr. L. penna.]

1. A feather. [Obs.]
   --Spenser.

2. A wing. [Obs.]
   --Milton.

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.

   Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock.
   --Job xix. 2

4. 4. Fig.: A writer, or his style; as, he has a sharp pen. ``Those learned pens.''
   --Fuller.

5. (Zo["o]l.) The internal shell of a squid.

6. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Zo["o]l.) A female swan. [Prov. Eng.]

   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 (Zo["o]l.), a pennatula. [Usually written sea-pen.]

n. bow compasses, one leg of which carries a pen