pent
English
editPronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /pɛnt/
- Rhymes: -ɛnt
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Etymology 1
editNoun
editpent (plural pents)
- Confinement; concealment.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts:
- There was a catch in my voice, thick as it was with the pent of unshed tears; had I let them flow they would have come out forty per cent proof.
Adjective
editpent
- Confined in, or as if in, a pen; imprisoned.
- 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- As the old woman, with a gigantic and distorted image of herself thrown half upon the wall behind her, half upon the roof above, sat bending over the few loose bricks within which it was pent, on the damp hearth of the chimney—for there was no stove—she looked as if she were watching at some witch’s altar for a favourable token; […]
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 46, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- Wherever Miss Clavering went, this infatuated young fellow continued to follow her; and being aware that his engagement to his cousin was known in the world, he was forced to make a mystery of his passion, and confine it to his own breast, so that it was so pent in there and pressed down, that it is a wonder he did not explode some day with the stormy secret, and perish collapsed after the outburst.
- 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC:
- My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time —
To let the punishment fit the crime —
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each prisoner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!
Usage notes
editUse of bare “pent”, as in the Gilbert quotation above, has become less common over time. (Use of “pent up” or “pent in” remains about as common.)
Related terms
editTranslations
editconfined in a pen, imprisoned
Verb
editpent
Etymology 2
editClipping of pentatonic.
Noun
editpent (plural pents)
- (informal, music) A pentatonic scale.
- 2006 March 28, Greg Cisko, “Re: Any good solos?”, in alt.guitar.beginner[1] (Usenet):
- The major pent is the same minor pent pattern only shifted down 3 frets toward the nut. Like John B told me for Sunshine of your love. Play Bm and then Dm pent and it will sound good. He also pointed out that Bm pent includes the same exact notes as DM pent. So the idea is if the song is in D, try both minor and major pents and see how it works.
Etymology 3
editClipping of pentacle or pentagram.
Noun
editpent (plural pents)
- (informal, paganism) A pentacle or pentagram.
- 2002 August 27, Jani, “Re: Pagan Symbols.....and any others that spring to mind”, in uk.religion.pagan[2] (Usenet):
- [> What symbols mean the most to you? For instance, what do you wear around your neck and why?]
Usually, a triquetra, although I have ankhs, pents and a spell-bottle on amber beads which I wear if I find it necessary to be *really* annoying :)
See also
edit- pent roof (probably etymologically unrelated)
Anagrams
editDanish
editAdjective
editpent
Norwegian Bokmål
editAdjective
editpent
Norwegian Nynorsk
editAdjective
editpent
Old French
editVerb
editpent
Romanian
editNoun
editpent m (plural penți)
Declension
editDeclension of pent
References
editCategories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛnt
- Rhymes:English/ɛnt/1 syllable
- English terms with audio links
- English terms suffixed with -t
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English non-lemma forms
- English verb forms
- English terms with archaic senses
- English clippings
- English informal terms
- en:Music
- en:Paganism
- Danish non-lemma forms
- Danish adjective forms
- Norwegian Bokmål non-lemma forms
- Norwegian Bokmål adjective forms
- Norwegian Nynorsk non-lemma forms
- Norwegian Nynorsk adjective forms
- Old French non-lemma forms
- Old French verb forms
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian masculine nouns
- Romanian obsolete forms