See the pen is mightier than the sword on Wiktionary
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"ref": "1982, Michael Schudson, The Power of News, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 142:",
"text": "If the pen is mightier than the sword in American history, it is more likely the pen of a novelist than the typewriter of a reporter — Harriet Beecher Stowe stimulating antislavery sentiment or Upton Sinclair enlisting citizens in outrage against the food-processing industry.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Qazi Nasir Uddin, Ph.D., The Other Side, Author House, page 108",
"text": "If my teachers had not told me that the pen is mightier than the sword, if my parents had not told me that I have to respect books, I would not have developed that respect for knowledge."
}
],
"glosses": [
"More influence and power can be usurped by writing than by fighting."
],
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"word": "the tongue wounds more than a lance"
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"id": "en-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword-en-proverb-cdvHP2bR",
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"power",
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"(idiomatic, metonymically) More influence and power can be usurped by writing than by fighting."
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"tags": [
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"translations": [
{
"code": "my",
"lang": "Burmese",
"roman": "dha:swa:htak ka.laungswa:htak",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ဓားသွားထက် ကလောင်သွားထက်"
},
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"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "文勝於武，筆勝於劍"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "文胜于武"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "wén shèng yú wǔ, bǐ shèng yú jiàn",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "笔胜于剑"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennen er mægtigere end sværdet"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "plumo estas pli potenca ol spado"
},
{
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "sõna vägi on suurem kui sõjavägi"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "kynä on miekkaa mahtavampi"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "la plume est plus forte que l’épée"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "die Feder ist mächtiger als die Klinge"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "i glóssa kókala den échei ma kókala tsakízei",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "η γλώσσα κόκαλα δεν έχει μα κόκαλα τσακίζει"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ne uccide più la penna della spada"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "la penna ferisce più della spada"
},
{
"alt": "ペンはけんよりもつよし",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "pen wa ken yori mo tsuyoshi",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ペンは剣よりも強し"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "cedant arma togae"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennen er mektigere enn sverdet"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennen er mektigare enn sverdet"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "a pena é mais forte que a espada"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "a pena é mais forte do que a espada"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"note": "что напи́сано перо́м, не вы́рубишь и топоро́м (što napísano peróm, ne výrubišʹ i toporóm, literally “what's written by pen can't be cut by axe”)",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "la pluma es más poderosa que la espada"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennan är mäktigare än svärdet"
},
{
"code": "te",
"lang": "Telugu",
"roman": "katti kannā kalaṁ minna",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "కత్తి కన్నా కలం మిన్న"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "bpàak-gaa-kom-gwàa-dàap",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ปากกาคมกว่าดาบ"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "kalem kılıçtan keskindir"
}
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"Edward Bulwer-Lytton",
"Hamlet"
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"type": "quote"
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}
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"(idiomatic, metonymically) More influence and power can be usurped by writing than by fighting."
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"code": "my",
"lang": "Burmese",
"roman": "dha:swa:htak ka.laungswa:htak",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ဓားသွားထက် ကလောင်သွားထက်"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "文勝於武，筆勝於劍"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "文胜于武"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "wén shèng yú wǔ, bǐ shèng yú jiàn",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "笔胜于剑"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennen er mægtigere end sværdet"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "plumo estas pli potenca ol spado"
},
{
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "sõna vägi on suurem kui sõjavägi"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "kynä on miekkaa mahtavampi"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "la plume est plus forte que l’épée"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "die Feder ist mächtiger als die Klinge"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "i glóssa kókala den échei ma kókala tsakízei",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "η γλώσσα κόκαλα δεν έχει μα κόκαλα τσακίζει"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ne uccide più la penna della spada"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "la penna ferisce più della spada"
},
{
"alt": "ペンはけんよりもつよし",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "pen wa ken yori mo tsuyoshi",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ペンは剣よりも強し"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "cedant arma togae"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennen er mektigere enn sverdet"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennen er mektigare enn sverdet"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "a pena é mais forte que a espada"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "a pena é mais forte do que a espada"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"note": "что напи́сано перо́м, не вы́рубишь и топоро́м (što napísano peróm, ne výrubišʹ i toporóm, literally “what's written by pen can't be cut by axe”)",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "la pluma es más poderosa que la espada"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "pennan är mäktigare än svärdet"
},
{
"code": "te",
"lang": "Telugu",
"roman": "katti kannā kalaṁ minna",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "కత్తి కన్నా కలం మిన్న"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "bpàak-gaa-kom-gwàa-dàap",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "ปากกาคมกว่าดาบ"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "more power can be usurped by writing than fighting",
"word": "kalem kılıçtan keskindir"
}
],
"word": "the pen is mightier than the sword"
}
Download raw JSONL data for the pen is mightier than the sword meaning in All languages combined (7.2kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.