I. Penn, Sean /pen, ʃɔːn/
(1960–) an American film actor,
director, and
producer. Films he has appeared in include
Dead Man Walking (1995),
I Am Sam (2001), and
Mystic River (2003) for which he received an Oscar. Films he has directed include
The Indian Runner (1991) and
The Pledge (2001). His first wife was the
POP SINGER Madonna. He is known for his political
ACTIVISM and for his criticism of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.
[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
II. Penn, William (1644–1718) an English leader of the
Quakers (=a Christian religious group), who was put in prison for having unacceptable religious beliefs. After he was let out of prison, he was given some land in North America, and he established a
colony there as a place of religious freedom for Quakers and others to go and live in. He called the colony
Pennsylvania, and planned and built the city of
Philadelphia in 1682.
[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲