"the pen is mightier than the sword" meaning in English

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "actions speak louder than words"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "nodots": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "BCE",
      "name": "B.C.E."
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "BCE",
      "name": "BCE"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "This phrasing due to Bulwer-Lytton, 1839.\nThe sentiment is traditional, and has many antecedents; see Wikipedia.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "the pen is mightier than the sword",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "the pen is mightier than the sword",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Burmese terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English metonyms",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1982, Michael Schudson, The Power of News, Harvard University Press, 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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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."
      ],
      "hyponyms": [
        {
          "word": "the tongue wounds more than a lance"
        }
      ],
      "id": "en-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword-en-proverb-cdvHP2bR",
      "links": [
        [
          "writing",
          "writing"
        ],
        [
          "fighting",
          "fighting"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, metonymically) More influence and power can be usurped by writing than by fighting."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "metonymically"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "my",
          "lang": "Burmese",
          "roman": "dha:swa:htak ka.laungswa:htak",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "ဓားသွားထက် ကလောင်သွားထက်"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "pennen er mægtigere end sværdet"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "plumo estas pli potenca ol spado"
        },
        {
          "code": "et",
          "lang": "Estonian",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "sõna vägi on suurem kui sõjavägi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "kynä on miekkaa mahtavampi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "la plume est plus forte que l’épée"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "more power can achieved 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 achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "η γλώσσα κόκαλα δεν έχει μα κόκαλα τσακίζει"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "ne uccide più la penna della spada"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "more power can achieved 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 achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "ペンは剣よりも強し"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "cedant arma togae"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "pennen er mektigere enn sverdet"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "pennen er mektigare enn sverdet"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "a pena é mais forte que a espada"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "more power can achieved 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 achieved writing than fighting"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "la pluma es más poderosa que la espada"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "pennan är mäktigare än svärdet"
        },
        {
          "code": "te",
          "lang": "Telugu",
          "roman": "katti kannā kalaṁ minna",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "కత్తి కన్నా కలం మిన్న"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "bpàak-gaa-kom-gwàa-dàap",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "ปากกาคมกว่าดาบ"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
          "word": "kalem kılıçtan keskindir"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Edward Bulwer-Lytton",
        "Hamlet"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-the pen is mightier than the sword.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f1/En-au-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword.ogg/En-au-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/En-au-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the pen is mightier than the sword"
}

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "actions speak louder than words"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "nodots": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "BCE",
      "name": "B.C.E."
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "BCE",
      "name": "BCE"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "This phrasing due to Bulwer-Lytton, 1839.\nThe sentiment is traditional, and has many antecedents; see Wikipedia.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "the pen is mightier than the sword",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "the pen is mightier than the sword",
      "name": "en-proverb"
    }
  ],
  "hyponyms": [
    {
      "word": "the tongue wounds more than a lance"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Burmese terms with redundant script codes",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English metonyms",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1982, Michael Schudson, The Power of News, Harvard University Press, 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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "writing",
          "writing"
        ],
        [
          "fighting",
          "fighting"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, metonymically) More influence and power can be usurped by writing than by fighting."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "metonymically"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Edward Bulwer-Lytton",
        "Hamlet"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-the pen is mightier than the sword.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f1/En-au-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword.ogg/En-au-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/En-au-the_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "my",
      "lang": "Burmese",
      "roman": "dha:swa:htak ka.laungswa:htak",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "ဓားသွားထက် ကလောင်သွားထက်"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "pennen er mægtigere end sværdet"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "plumo estas pli potenca ol spado"
    },
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "sõna vägi on suurem kui sõjavägi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "kynä on miekkaa mahtavampi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "la plume est plus forte que l’épée"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "more power can achieved 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 achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "η γλώσσα κόκαλα δεν έχει μα κόκαλα τσακίζει"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "ne uccide più la penna della spada"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "more power can achieved 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 achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "ペンは剣よりも強し"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "cedant arma togae"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "pennen er mektigere enn sverdet"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "pennen er mektigare enn sverdet"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "a pena é mais forte que a espada"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "more power can achieved 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 achieved writing than fighting"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "la pluma es más poderosa que la espada"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "pennan är mäktigare än svärdet"
    },
    {
      "code": "te",
      "lang": "Telugu",
      "roman": "katti kannā kalaṁ minna",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "కత్తి కన్నా కలం మిన్న"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "bpàak-gaa-kom-gwàa-dàap",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "ปากกาคมกว่าดาบ"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "more power can achieved writing than fighting",
      "word": "kalem kılıçtan keskindir"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the pen is mightier than the sword"
}