What is "pen name"

Name \Name\ (n[=a]m), n. [AS. nama; akin to D. naam, OS. & OHG. namo, G. name, Icel. nafn, for namn, Dan. navn, Sw. namn, Goth. nam[=o], L. nomen (perh. influenced by noscere, gnoscere, to learn to know), Gr. 'o`mona, Scr. n[=a]man. [root]267. Cf. Anonymous, Ignominy, Misnomer, Nominal, Noun.]

1. The title by which any person or thing is known or designated; a distinctive specific appellation, whether of an individual or a class.

   Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
   --Gen. ii. 19.

   What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.
   --Shak.

2. A descriptive or qualifying appellation given to a person or thing, on account of a character or acts.

   His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
   --Is. ix. 6.

3. Reputed character; reputation, good or bad; estimation; fame; especially, illustrious character or fame; honorable estimation; distinction.

   What men of name resort to him?
   --Shak.

   Far above . . . every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
   --Eph. i. 21.

   I will get me a name and honor in the kingdom.
   --1 Macc. iii. 1

4. He hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin.
   --Deut. xxii. 19.

   The king's army . . . had left no good name behind.
   --Clarendon.

   4. Those of a certain name; a race; a family.

   The ministers of the republic, mortal enemies of his name, came every day to pay their feigned civilities.
   --Motley.

5. A person, an individual. [Poetic] They list with women each degenerate name. --Dryden. Christian name.

   1. The name a person receives at baptism, as distinguished from surname; baptismal name; in western countries, it is also called a first name.

   2. A given name, whether received at baptism or not. Given name. See under Given. In name, in profession, or by title only; not in reality; as, a friend in name. In the name of.

      1. In behalf of; by the authority of. `` I charge you in the duke's name to obey me.''
         --Shak.

      2. In the represented or assumed character of. ``I'll to him again in name of Brook.''
         --Shak.

         Name plate, a plate as of metal, glass, etc., having a name upon it, as a sign; a doorplate.

         Pen name, a name assumed by an author; a pseudonym or nom de plume.
         --Bayard Taylor.

         Proper name (Gram.), a name applied to a particular person, place, or thing.

         To call names, to apply opprobrious epithets to; to call by reproachful appellations.

         To take a name in vain, to use a name lightly or profanely; to use a name in making flippant or dishonest oaths.
         --Ex. xx. 7.

         Syn: Appellation; title; designation; cognomen; denomination; epithet.

         Usage: Name, Appellation, Title, Denomination. Name is generic, denoting that combination of sounds or letters by which a person or thing is known and distinguished. Appellation, although sometimes put for name simply, denotes, more properly, a descriptive term (called also agnomen or cognomen), used by way of marking some individual peculiarity or characteristic; as, Charles the Bold, Philip the Stammerer. A title is a term employed to point out one's rank, office, etc.; as, the Duke of Bedford, Paul the Apostle, etc. Denomination is to particular bodies what appellation is to individuals; thus, the church of Christ is divided into different denominations, as Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, etc.

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.]

alt. A fictitious name used by an author in place of their actual name. n. A fictitious name used by an author in place of their actual name.

n. an author's pseudonym [syn: nom de plume]

A pen name, nom de plume (, ), or literary double is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her previous works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her writings, to combine more than one author into a single author, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. The author's name may be known only to the publisher, or may come to be common knowledge.