Silene virginica, a brilliant red wildflower of eastern North America in the family Caryophyllaceae.
kopfring
panofsky
penknife
penknife
noun
(archaic) Originally a small utility knife for cutting the points of quill feathers or reeds into nibs to provide or repair writing implements in times before pens with artificial nibs, generally metal, became commercially available in the 19th century. Early versions of penknives commonly were small sheath knives.
(dated) A small knife designed for safe and convenient storage, typically in the form of a miniature clasp-knife, or with blade retractable into the handle. For the most part, such more convenient designs eventually replaced rigid penknives in cutting quill pens or sharpening pencils.
As the need to cut nibs for pens fell away, but small utility pocket-knives remained popular, "penknife" became synonymous with "pocket-knife". Modern penknives often incorporate other tools such as corkscrews, but as a rule are smaller than general-purpose pocketknives.
