'Pen' Pals Trivia Quiz

Answer: pentameter

This word comes directly from the Greek (not surprisingly, as it is a term coined by scholars who would have been familiar with Greek) 'pentametros'. This adjective combines 'pente' (five) with 'metron' (measure) to mean something with five metrical feet.

This means that the line (of a play or poem) can be divided up into five groups by rhythm. For example, Shakespeare often wrote in iambic pentameter, so each line consists of five pairs of syllables that are a light one followed by a stressed one: "When I do count the clock that tells the time" is the opening line of Sonnet 12.

The rhythmic stress pattern is da DA, da DA, da DA, da DA, da DA - but a good reader avoids making it sound too sing-song.

Answer: penalty

The word penalty comes from a Latin word meaning punishment. In the 16th century is entered English as a legal term, and specifically related to breaking the law. Over time, it has come to be applied to breeches of contract, such as a penalty clause if work on a construction project is not completed on time. Sometimes people who work overtime (longer hours than specified in their contract) or on a public holiday are said to be paid penalty rates.

In sports, an action which contravenes the rules of the game may be awarded a penalty, a sanction which provides the offender with some sort of disadvantage in the competition.

Answer: pendant

The word pendaunt entered English in the 14th century, and referred to any part of something that was loose, or hung so as to swing freely. The 'u' disappeared over time, and the use became restricted to refer to decorative items which dangle. This includes both a style of light that hangs from the ceiling and a piece of jewelry worn around the neck on a chain.

The word can also be used as an adjective, but the adjective is more commonly spelled pendent.

Answer: penchant

Like a number of the words in this quiz, penchant has its roots in a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) morpheme *pen, which seems to relate to stretching and spinning. PIE is a reconstructed proto-language thought to be the origin of the Indo-European language family which includes almost all of Europe, and an area covering the Iranian Plateau and northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Penchant, like pendant, then evolved through the Latin verb 'pendere' meaning to hang or cause to hang. From hanging to the Old French 'penchere' (to lean or incline) we then proceed to an inclination or penchant.

Answer: penguin

While we now use the word penguin to refer to one of a number of species of flightless birds found in the Antarctic and nearby areas, it was originally applied to the great auk, a northern hemisphere bird of similar appearance which is now extinct. That might explain the pen- part of its name, which is clearly not from the same PIE origin as many of the words in this quiz.

It has been suggested that it could come from the Welsh words 'pen' (head) and 'gwyn' (white) as a description of the auk, which had a white face.

Then again, it may have come from the Latin 'pinguis' (fat and juicy) as a derogatory reference to their heavy body shape.

Answer: pentangle

The Greek 'pent-' for five is used here to describe a shape with five angles or points. While it may simply be a five-pointed star, it could also be applied to a pentagon, which has five sides joining at five vertices. The pentangle has become associated with the pentacle, a shape used in magical rituals as a defense against demons which is also called a pentagram (meaning five lines).

Answer: penmanship

This composite word is clearly constructed. A pen is an implement used for writing; a penman is one who uses a pen with skill; -ship is a suffix indicating a skill (among other usages). So why is a pen called a pen? It comes from the Latin word 'penna', meaning a feather, which came to be used in Late Latin for a writing quill, which was dipped in ink to use as a writing tool. Later writing implements using ink hence took on the name of pen. Pencil, now, has a totally unrelated origin, coming from the name of a type of artist's brush (pencel) which was transferred in the middle of the 15th century to apply to the newly-developed practice of enclosing a block of graphite in a wooden case to use as a marking implement.

Answer: penny-pinching

The word penny describes a coin of relatively small value in comparison to the standard currency of a country. The English word comes from a proto-Germanic word '*panninga', the source for a term used for low-value coins in a number of other European languages: German 'pfennig', Dutch 'penning', Danish 'penge', Swedish 'pänning' among others. Since it is a coin of little value, one who pinches a penny so as to retain control of it and not allow someone else to have it is clearly very careful with they way they handle money.

Answer: pensive

Here is another word from the PIE '*pen', but this time by way of the Latin form 'pensare', meaning to weigh or consider. The French developed that into 'penser' (to think), then 'pensif' (thoughtful, musing). After the English adopted the word, the spelling changed to pensive.

The word is sometimes used simply to describe someone who is contemplative, but it more often carries an implication of sadness.

Answer: pentathlon

And we finish with the Greek 'penta-' indicating five. The Greek 'athlon' indicates a prize or contest, so in this case there are five of them. Biathlons have two events, triathlons three, heptathlons six, and decathlons have ten. The Greek competition involved running, jumping, wrestling, discus, and spear throwing.

In 1912 the modern pentathlon was instituted as an Olympic sport involving cross-country running, fencing, shooting, swimming and horseback riding. Details of each event have changed over the years, but their general nature remains fixed.