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What is the cover of the head of a pen called in English?

In my native language it is simply called a cover.

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Boann
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Virtuous Legend
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5 Answers5

66

It is called

a pen cap
Do you know where the cap for this pen is?

is an often heard question for small children after they've been drawing.

Peter
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    I'm an American, and I would definitely call it a cap (as you suggest), not a lid or a top. – Tanner Swett Jun 12 '17 at 11:28
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    What eloquent and articulate small children you know! – KRyan Jun 12 '17 at 13:59
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    The apple falls not far from the tree (their Mom)... – Peter Jun 12 '17 at 14:44
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    As an American, I would go with "cap" (most likely) or "cover" (less likely but still plausible). A "lid" generally covers an opening (and thus is usually more or less flat) like a lid to a pot; a manhole cover could technically be a "lid" too. "Top" might work, but is somewhat ambiguous (consider "pencil topper", which is either a decorative or functional thing attached to the eraser end of a pencil -- which would be the opposite of a pen cap that covers the writing side). – Doktor J Jun 12 '17 at 17:24
  • I've always called those eraser caps (when they erase, that is) :) – Arlen Beiler Jun 13 '17 at 14:01
  • @KRyan If that sentence comes across to you as eloquent and articulate for a child, I fear I may have some bad news for you about your kids. – Kevin Jun 13 '17 at 16:10
  • @Kevin That they keep losing their pen caps? – Peter Jun 13 '17 at 16:11
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    Isn't that a question asked by an adult, to a child? That's how I read "question for small children" (and it's by far the more common experience in my house than the other way around). Though it wouldn't surprise me at all if Peter's children are eloquent and articulate! – 1006a Jun 13 '17 at 20:37
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There are a few different names for it, which vary in preference depending on your locale. I've heard pen cap and pen lid, and while doing some further research on this question top seems to be a word used as well.

For the most part they can be used interchangeably, though some people will insist lid is incorrect. Lid is the natural word for me, so your mileage may vary.

choster
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Cantalouping
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    I have never heard it called a pen lid - as an American English speaker, it's always pen cap for me. – Nuclear Hoagie Jun 12 '17 at 12:49
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    In British English, cap was used by my parents, but nowadays I hear lid – Greenonline Jun 12 '17 at 13:49
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    @Greenonline I've never heard "lid" in British English (native speaker, late 30s). – David Richerby Jun 12 '17 at 19:34
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    @DavidRicherby - Really? Well, that does surprise me. We must move in different circles. I personally only use pen lid, as would my peers. – Greenonline Jun 12 '17 at 19:35
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    For context, I am an Australian English speaker. I don't think I've ever even heard someone in person refer to it as a cap. Not saying that's indicative of all Australian English speakers. – Cantalouping Jun 13 '17 at 02:33
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    Australian also; I say, "lid." – Damien Jun 13 '17 at 04:40
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    American here, I've only ever heard it call a cap. – Arlen Beiler Jun 13 '17 at 14:00
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    American. I have only heard it called "cap", and the idea that anyone anywhere would call it a "lid" confuses and terrifies me. – Nick Matteo Jun 13 '17 at 16:59
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    @DavidRicherby I'm English and hear it all the time. Possibly regional variation – Stevetech Jun 13 '17 at 17:38
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    To me a "lid" implies that it has a height:width ratio of less than 1. Thus a pen has a cap, never a lid unless it was some strangely-shaped novelty pen with a notably unusual closing mechanism. American English here. (Why do I think of it that way? I'm not sure, I think the similarity to the word "lip" and the fact that, for example, you could refer to the rim around the edge of the lid to a jar of peanut butter as a lip due to its relative narrow size.. I realize this type of reasoning borderline nonsense, but it's how I've thought of it and I agree with kundor above) – Darren Ringer Jun 13 '17 at 20:50
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    Same as @kundor here: A "lid" is "a removable or hinged cover for the top of a container". A pen is not a "container" any more than a laptop is a container (yes, despite the fact that they both contain other things). (Fun fact: my dictionary also says a "lid" is an ounce of marijuana. The more you know.) On the other hand, a "cap" is "a protective lid or cover* for an object such as a bottle, the point of a pen, or a camera lens."* I would say the American term is correct here and "lid" is terrifying ;) – user541686 Jun 13 '17 at 22:57
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    Never heard anything other than "lid", British English here. "Pen cap" and "pen top" sound wrong to me but I would easily understand them. – Muzer Jun 14 '17 at 13:17
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In England, pen lid tends to be preferred, with pen cap also being used. This may be subject to regional or age difference though (Britain has a very high level of regional difference).

Pen top would be least common. It would possibly be used to indicate the top end of a pen distinct from its bottom, but very unlikely to be used to refer to the lid itself.

Pharap
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    Google ngrams seems to suggest that this isn't at all true, and "top" is by far more common. – Jules Jun 12 '17 at 09:46
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    @Jules Firstly ngrams are not always acurate, secondly you don't know the exact contexts (that search could be firing in cases where the context may be referring to the opposite end of the pen or to the top of the pen as a whole rather than to its lid) and lastly ngrams only reflect a subset of written English, not all written English and not spoken English. – Pharap Jun 12 '17 at 10:26
  • True. But I've never heard "top" used to refer to any other part of a pen, and don't often hear people use "lid" much, so I'm confident that the result is pretty representative. I don't think "lid" is preferred at all. – Jules Jun 12 '17 at 10:43
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    My (born and bred in the UK) experience would rank "cap" most common, followed by "top". "Lid" would be least common. Without obvious context, if hearing the word "lid" I would tend to think of something flatter: the lid of a pan/jar/pot of paint etc. – TripeHound Jun 12 '17 at 10:59
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    In my experience (also born and bred UK), "lid" on it's own is unlikely, but "pen lid" is the most common term. I think the bold in the answer is slightly misleading, since both parts are necessary. Next most common (again, in my experience) would be "cap", which works better on its own. – Guy G Jun 12 '17 at 11:11
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    Born and bred UK here - "pen lid" would be what I'd use, and hear the most. "Lid" and "cap" would be followed, but rarely "top". – Tom Jun 12 '17 at 11:30
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    @Jules Aside from the occaisional 'cap' I only ever hear 'lid'. My teachers all throughout primary school and secondary school have used the term 'pen lid' (didn't come up in college since we didn't really use pens much). It could be another regional thing (I'm from the south-west). – Pharap Jun 12 '17 at 12:02
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    'Lid' sounds really odd to me - 'cap' or perhaps 'top' sound right. I'm in NW England, and in my 60's, if we're identifying the demographics of it. – peterG Jun 12 '17 at 15:24
  • @peterG Usually when I run into an issue like this I tend to assume it's a north-south difference, but it could be that the south-west is in the minority here, but there's no way to know without demographics. I'm assuming for now that it's probably not an age thing based on having memories of my teachers saying it. – Pharap Jun 12 '17 at 18:59
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    A search for "pen lid" leads to plenty of results, including from a UK national newspaper. Personally I'd say lid (I'm from northeast England). – Tom Fenech Jun 13 '17 at 12:07
  • Confusing "pan lid" with "pen lid"? – Tsundoku Jun 13 '17 at 14:10
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    Here is a Google Ngram Viewer for British English, similar to the one posted by Jules, but with all three: pen top,pen lid,pen cap. Ranking is #1 'pen top', #2 'pen cap', and #3 'pen lid' with 'lid' not appearing until late 1980's or 90's. – Basil Bourque Jun 14 '17 at 07:40
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I would call this a cap in American English.

In American English a lid is often thought of as a flat item that covers something. It often snaps or holds in place somehow. For instance, the floppy plastic cover on top of a can of peanuts would be a lid.

A cap has similar purpose to a lid, but it is slightly different in that a cap will typically completely encompass the object that it is covering, whereas a lid usually rests on top.

Webster's defines a cap this way:

Something that serves as a cover or protection especially for a tip, knob, or end

Source

Chris Schneider
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  • +1 for explaining lid's suggestion of flatness and resting on top (at least in AmE), and the "encompassing" of cap. These are the kinds of subtleties of meaning that people usually don't think to tell you and can't be found by counting word frequencies. – Ben Kovitz Jun 15 '17 at 14:50
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Pen top is also used by native speakers. As in:

Where is the top of this pen?

and

Have you seen my pen top?

I've used it on two continents and no one has indicated my dialect usage is not natural.

Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩
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