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pen name

pen name

10 3.5
A name an author uses instead of their real name when publishing
  • noun
  • /pɛn neɪm/
translation icon : seudónimo
  • Pamela and Mary O'Shaughnessy are sisters who write under the pen name Perri.
  • use pen name

So Lewis Carroll, you know, it's a pen name.

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Examples

  • If you want anonymity, we'll give you a pen name.

  • Stephen King famously published several novels under the pen name Richard Bachman.

  • And he got his pen name because he would give his stories to his wife.

  • Some women used male pen names in order to be taken seriously.

    Academic text (2010)
  • She uses the pen name "Alone".

  • Annie Garrett is the pen name of a celebrity journalist who writes for Entertainment.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Speaking of whom, Lemony Snicket is the pen name of author Daniel Handler.

    Blog text (21)
  • Martha was born Martha Rebentisch but took the pen name Martha Reben upon advice from her publisher (Tisdale 7).

    Academic text (2014)
  • Juan Emar was the literary pen name of Alvaro Yez Bianchi (1893-1964).

    Academic text (2007)
  • Lambert Nagle is the pen name of co-authors Alison Ripley Cubitt and Sean Cubitt.

    Blog text (2)

Synonyms

alias
vspen name
64 7.0

A name a person uses instead of their real name to hide identity

is mainly the name an author uses for publication rather than for hiding identity
pseudonym
vspen name
32 7.7

A name a writer or singer uses instead of their real name

is the specific form an author picks instead of their real name
false name
vspen name
9 3.9

A made-up name someone uses to hide who they are

is the name chosen by a writer for publishing, not for hiding
assumed name
vspen name
6 6.3

A name someone uses instead of their real name to hide who they are

is used for public authorship rather than mainly for hiding identity
nom de plume
vspen name
  • Literature
3 8.2

A name an author uses instead of their real name

is the ordinary author choice, not limited to foreign styling

How Revealing

pen name
10 3.5
anonym
9.6
false name
9 3.9

Surface Forms

pen name singular
pen names plural

Morphology

pen + name

The meaning 'a name used by an author' is directly derivable from combining 'pen' (to write) with 'name' (identifier): it transparently indicates a name used for writing. This compositional logic is common cross-linguistically and would be accessible to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Pen name comes from the simple image of an author using a pen to write a different name. Authors did this to keep their real name private, so today pen name means 'a name an author uses instead of their real name'.