What is "fountain pen"

Fountain \Foun"tain\ (foun"t[i^]n), n. [F. fontaine, LL. fontana, fr. L. fons, fontis. See 2d Fount.]

1. A spring of water issuing from the earth.

2. An artificially produced jet or stream of water; also, the structure or works in which such a jet or stream rises or flows; a basin built and constantly supplied with pure water for drinking and other useful purposes, or for ornament.

3. A reservoir or chamber to contain a liquid which can be conducted or drawn off as needed for use; as, the ink fountain in a printing press, etc.

4. The source from which anything proceeds, or from which anything is supplied continuously; origin; source. Judea, the fountain of the gospel. --Fuller. Author of all being, Fountain of light, thyself invisible. --Milton. Air fountain. See under Air. Fountain heead, primary source; original; first principle. --Young. Fountain inkstand, an inkstand having a continual supply of ink, as from elevated reservoir. Fountain lamp, a lamp fed with oil from an elevated reservoir. Fountain pen, a pen with a reservoir in the handle which furnishes a supply of ink. Fountain pump.

   1. A structure for a fountain, having the form of a pump.

   2. A portable garden pump which throws a jet, for watering plants, etc.

      Fountain shell (Zo["o]l.), the large West Indian conch shell ( Strombus gigas).

      Fountain of youth, a mythical fountain whose waters were fabled to have the property of renewing youth.

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. A pen containing a reservoir of ink, which is fed to a writing nib automatically.

n. a pen that is supplied with ink from a reservoir in its barrel

A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor, the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action. Filling the reservoir with ink may be achieved manually, via the use of a Pasteur pipette (eyedropper) or syringe, or via an internal filling mechanism which creates suction (for example, through a piston mechanism) to transfer ink directly through the nib into the reservoir. Some pens employ removable reservoirs in the form of pre-filled ink cartridges.