Part 157

And bitter penance, with an iron whip.

Spenser.

Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do."

Coleridge.

Pen"ance, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penanced (?).] To impose penance; to punish. "Some penanced lady elf." Keats.

Pen"ance*less, a. Free from penance. [R.]

Pe*nang" nut` (?). [From the native name.] (Bot.) The betel nut. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

Pen*an"nu*lar (?), a. [L. pene, paene, almost + E. annular.] Nearly annular; having nearly the form of a ring. "Penannular relics." D. Wilson.

Pe"na*ry (?), a. Penal. [Obs.] Gauden.

||Pe*na"tes (?), n. pl. [L.] (Rom. Antiq.) The household gods of the ||ancient Romans. They presided over the home and the family hearth. ||See Lar.

Pen"aunt (?), n. [OF. penant, peneant. See Penitent.] A penitent. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Pence (?), n., pl. of Penny. See Penny.

Pen"cel (?), n. [See Pennoncel.] A small, narrow flag or streamer borne at the top of a lance; -- called also pennoncel. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. Chaucer.

||Pen`chant" (?), n. [F., fr. pencher to bend, fr. (assumed) LL. ||pendicare, L. pendere. See Pendant.] Inclination; decided taste; ||bias; as, a penchant for art.

Pen"chute` (?), n. See Penstock.

Pen"cil (?), n. [OF. pincel, F. pinceau, L. penicillum, penicillus, equiv. to peniculus, dim. of penis a tail. Cf. Penicil.] 1. A small, fine brush of hair or bristles used by painters for laying on colors.

With subtile pencil depainted was this storie.

Chaucer.

2. A slender cylinder or strip of black lead, colored chalk, slate etc., or such a cylinder or strip inserted in a small wooden rod intended to be pointed, or in a case, which forms a handle, -- used for drawing or writing. See Graphite.

3. Hence, figuratively, an artist's ability or peculiar manner; also, in general, the act or occupation of the artist, descriptive writer, etc.

4. (Opt.) An aggregate or collection of rays of light, especially when diverging from, or converging to, a point.

5. (Geom.) A number of lines that intersect in one point, the point of intersection being called the pencil point.

6. (Med.) A small medicated bougie.

Pencil case, a holder for pencil lead. - - Pencil flower (Bot.), an American perennial leguminous herb (Stylosanthes elatior). -- Pencil lead, a slender rod of black lead, or the like, adapted for insertion in a holder.

Pen"cil, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penciled (?) or Pencilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Penciling or Pencilling.] To write or mark with a pencil; to paint or to draw. Cowper.

Where nature pencils butterflies on flowers.

Harte.

Pen"ciled (?), a. [Written also pencilled.] 1. Painted, drawn, sketched, or marked with a pencil.