pen-

[javasaurus]

I was listening to an audiotape this morning that made a comment about the word "insulate" -- noting that it means, literally, to make an island. The Latin, insula, means island. This led me to think about the word insular, and then peninsula (pen = almost, insula = island), which led me to think about the prefix, pen-, meaning "almost." I love the word penultimate, because for the longest time I thought it meant "even more ultimate, beyond the best" but of course, that's wrong, it means "almost the ultimate" or "second best" or "next to last."

Other than peninsula and penultimate, can you think of any other words with the prefix "pen-"?

Trivia question: what animal is called a "pen"?

and yes, it's cheating to use a dictionary!

Comments

[skimbells.livejournal.com]

cool :-)

the only animal i could think of would be a pea-hen, but i don't think that's what you're getting at.... hmmmmmmm

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

very close! it's a female swan. I have to wonder if we call the writing implements "pens" because maybe the nicer quills came from swan feathers?

[queenmaggie.livejournal.com]

my mind keeps wandering to nearby-words in my brain, such as 'perihelion' and then 'apogee'...
Pendragon? :doesn't do it. I can't think that comes from a meaning of 'almost-dragon.
ooo! penannular! an almost-circle pin!
penumbra: the area of shade around the edges of an eclipse: where it's almost completely shadowed.
And, no, I didn't look in a dictionary.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Very nice words. Hmmm...penumbra ---> umbrella? shade or shadow, so is a really small clown's parasol a penumbrella?

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

Sicilia est insula. Sardinia est insula. Italia non est insula, Italia insula paene. Italia paeninsula est.

Or I think that is how it went ...

Mater, pater, spectate! Cornelia in aqua est.

[dawntreader]

pen-GUIN

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

an almost guin? If somebody is similar to a swimming Anarctic bird, they have, I suppose, "penguinness." But isn't that almost a good beer?

(technicality: before consonants, pen- becomes pene-, so the word-play doesn't really work, but I like the thought anyway!)

[dawntreader]

oooh! how about Penna Turnpike? (which means "almost" an actual road.)

heh. other than that, i'm stumped. all i can think of are words that begin with pen, but the "pen" part isn't exactly a prefix. pencil, penny, penalty, etc.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

LOL! that road isn't even nearly a road. It's hideous, and has been for years. You'd think all the construction they do would have results eventually? right?