Penman

name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A scribe, or a person who copies texts.
  2. 2
    informal terms for male journalists wordnet
  3. 3
    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."

  4. 4
    A forger. slang

    "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 […]"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Example

More examples

"[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."

Etymology

From pen + -man.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.