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fountain pen

fountain pen

8 3.1
A pen with a built-in ink holder that lets ink flow to the tip
  • noun
  • /ˈfaʊntən pɛn/
translation icon : pluma fuente
  • She used a red fountain pen.

And they're like, why would you have all of these fountain pens that you just need one pen?

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Examples

  • T.S. Eliot used a fountain pen engraved with his initials.

    Academic text (2016)
  • The note from Elijah Higgardy was written in faded fountain pen ink on a sheet of lined notebook paper.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Yes, now, this... is called a fountain pen.

  • One does not often see the traditional French fountain pen.

  • Has anyone got a fountain pen?

  • Now, take a fountain pen.

  • If I were alone right now, with my paperwork and my fountain pen, I would be happy.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Charles placed his fountain pen back in its holder.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Alois gave Anna his fountain pen and showed her how to fill the barrel.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • When I write with my fountain pen, it feels more personal than using a regular pen.

Synonyms

pen
vsfountain pen
508 1.0

A tool for writing with ink

is a specific type that stores ink inside and feeds it to the nib
writing implement
vsfountain pen
1 3.2

A thing that you use to write, like a pen or pencil

is narrower, being one specific ink-filled instrument that feeds ink to a nib

How Smooth

fountain pen
8 3.1

Surface Forms

fountain pen singular
fountain pens plural

Morphology

fountain + pen

The meaning is directly inferable from combining 'pen' (writing instrument) with 'fountain' (a source that flows): a pen that uses a flowing internal reservoir of ink. This noun+noun composition follows a transparent, productive pattern so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably deduce the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Fountain pen comes from the image of a small fountain of 'ink' inside the pen. Old pens had a built-in ink reservoir that let the 'ink' flow to the tip like water from a fountain, so it wrote smoothly.