Penknife

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title: "Penknife" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["pocket-knives", "domestic-implements"] description: "Small folding knife" topic_path: "general/pocket-knives" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penknife" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Small folding knife ::

::callout[type=note] the quill and reed pen sharpening knife ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Pocket-knife.jpg" caption="A simple penknife"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Writing_in_bound_manuscripts_with_reed,_reed_knife,_and_ink_well;_citing_bound_rubricated_manuscripts_with_fore-and_top-edge_clasps_and_sharpening_a_reed_pen(Genoa,_16th.c.)(8067971786).jpg" caption="A 16th century depiction of using a penknife on a quill"] ::

A penknife, or pen knife, is a small folding knife. Today, penknife is also the common British English term for both a pocketknife, which can have single or multiple blades, and for multi-tools, with additional tools incorporated into the design.

History

Originally, penknives were used for thinning and pointing quills ( penna, Latin for "feather") to prepare them for use as dip pens and, later, for repairing or re-pointing the nib. A penknife might also be used to sharpen a pencil, prior to the invention of the pencil sharpener. In the mid-1800s, penknives were necessary to slice the uncut edges of newspapers and books.

A penknife did not necessarily have a folding blade, but might resemble a scalpel or chisel by having a short, fixed blade at the end of a long handle.

During the 20th century there was a proliferation of multi-function pocketknives with assorted blades and gadgets, the most famous of which is the Swiss Army knife, referred to in British English as penknives.

A larger folding knife than a penknife, especially one in which the blade locks into place as a protection, as for skinning animals, is referred to by some as a claspknife.

References

References

1. (1773). "Volume 3". John Donaldson 195 The Strand.
2. Arthur Machen. (1895). "The Three Impostors". John Lane.
3. Moore, Simon. (1988). "Penknives and Other Folding Knives". Osprey Publishing.
4. Flanders, Judith. (2014). "The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London". St. Martin's Press.
5. Shackleford, Steve. (5 January 2010). "Blade's Guide to Knives & Their Values". Krause Publications.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::