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{{Short description|Small folding knife}}
{{About|the quill and reed pen sharpening knife|the knife concealed in a pen|Ballpoint pen knife}}
[[File:Pocket-knife.jpg|thumb|A simple penknife.]]
[[File:Writing in bound manuscripts with reed, reed knife, and ink well; citing bound rubricated manuscripts with fore- and top-edge clasps and sharpening a reed pen (Genoa, 16th. c.) (8067971786).jpg|thumb|A 16th century depiction of using a penknife on a quill]]
 
'''Penknife''', or '''pen knife''', is a British English term for a small folding [[knife]].<ref name="EB1770-1"/> Today the word ''penknife'' is also the common British English term for both a [[pocketknife]], which can have single or multiple blades, and for [[multi-tool]]s, with additional tools incorporated into the design.<ref name="Moore1988"/>
 
==History==
Originally, penknives were used for thinning and pointing [[quill]]s (cf. ''penna'', Latin for ''feather'') to prepare them for use as [[dip pen]]s and, later, for repairing or re-pointing the [[Nib (pen)|nib]].<ref name="EB1770-1"/> A penknife might also be used to sharpen a [[pencil]],<ref name="Machen1895"/> prior to the invention of the [[pencil sharpener]]. In the mid-1800s, penknives were necessary to slice the uncut edges of newspapers and books.<ref name="Flanders2014"/>
 
A penknife did not necessarily have a folding [[blade]], but might resemble a [[scalpel]] or [[chisel]] by having a short, fixed blade at the end of a long handle.{{cn|date=August One popular (but incorrect) [[folk etymology]] makes an association between the size of a penknife and that of a small [[ballpoint pen]].2023}}
 
During the 20th century there has been a proliferation of multi-function knives[[pocketknives]] with assorted blades and gadgets,<ref including;name="Shackleford2010"/> [[stitchingthe awl|awls]],most [[reamer]]s,famous [[scissors]],of [[nailwhich file]]s,is [[corkscrew]]s, the [[tweezers]],Swiss [[toothpickArmy knife]]s, andreferred soto on.in TheBritish tradition continues with the incorporation of modern devices suchEnglish as [[ballpoint pens]], [[LED]] torches/flashlights, and [[USB flash drive]]spenknives.<ref name="Shackleford2010"/>
 
TheA mostlarger famousfolding exampleknife ofthan a multi-function penknife is the [[Swiss Army knife]], someespecially versionsone ofin which numberthe dozensblade oflocks functionsinto andplace areas reallya moreprotection, ofas afor foldingskinning [[multi-tool]]animals, incorporatingis areferred bladeto orby two,some thanas a penknife with extras[[claspknife]].<ref name="Shackleford2010"/>
 
A larger folding knife, especially one in which the blade locks into place, is often called a [[claspknife]].<ref name="Shackleford2010"/>
 
==See also==
* [[Ballpoint pen knife]]
* [[Opinel knife]]
* [[Penny knife]]
* [[Pocketknife]]
* [[Skeleton knife]]
 
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<ref name="Moore1988">{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Simon|title=Penknives and Other Folding Knives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tyXW6xQRoY4C|year=1988|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-0-85263-966-5|pages=25–26}}</ref>
 
<ref name="Flanders2014">{{cite book|last=Flanders|first=Judith|title=The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6NZd17WtWoCx5quAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA221PA152|date=2014|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-1-250-04021-3|page=152}}</ref>
 
<ref name="Shackleford2010">{{cite book|last=Shackleford|first=Steve|title=Blade's Guide to Knives & Their Values|url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/The_Victorian_City/nlgZAwAAQBAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=1nlgZAwAAQBAJ&dq=uncut&pg=PA152&printsec=frontcover|date=5 January 2010|publisher=Krause Publications|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=978-1-4402-1505-6|pages=219–222}}</ref>
 
</references>
 
==External links==
* http://www.victorinox.ch/index.cfm?page=0&lang=E
* http://www.wengerna.com/index.html
* http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pen%20knife
 
{{Knives}}
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