Penknife: Difference between revisions

A '''penknife''', or '''pen knife''', is a British English term for a small folding [[knife]].<ref name=EB1770-1>{{cite book|author1=A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland|authorlink1=History_of_the_Encyclopædia_Britannica#First_edition.2C_1771|title=Volume 3|date=1773|publisher=John Donaldson 195 The Strand|location=Oxford University|page=524|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ow8UAAAAQAAJ&dq=penknife+encyclopedia+britannica&q=penknife#v=snippet&q=penknife&f=false|accessdate=18 December 2014|quote=upon your knee with the back of a penknife,}}</ref> One popular [[folk etymology]] makes an association between the size of a penknife and a small [[ballpoint pen]], however the phrase "penknife" is much older. Originally, penknives were used for thinning and pointing [[quill]]s to prepare them for use as [[dip pen]]s and, later, for repairing or re-pointing the [[Nib_(pen)|nib]].<ref name=EB1770-1 /> They did not necessarily have folding [[blade]]s, but resembled a [[scalpel]] or wood knife by having a short, fixed blade at the end of a long handle.

Today the word penknife is 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">{{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> One popular [[folk etymology]] makes an association between the size of a penknife and a small [[ballpoint pen]]; but in fact the phrase "penknife" is much older.