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penman

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L325239 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

name

  1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English pen English -man English penman From pen + -man.

  1. A scribe, or a person who copies texts.
  2. A person with writing skills; a journalist or other author.

    [T]he holy Pen-men of the Nevv Teſtament ſeem to have borrovv'd and apply'd it [the word mystery] to ſome of the Great and Arduous Truths of Chriſtianity, ſuch as human Reaſon cannot give a clear and explicit Account of.

    Well, I often wish I were a penman; but I never could do it. I’ll read any day as long as you like, but that writing, I could never manage.

  3. A forger.

    Forgers, counterfeiters (penmen) and other such intellectuals have a certain standing in the underworld and even pickpockets are respected more or less as the masters of a difficult art, but they do not rank with the princes of the big con […]