Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PEN'E-TRATE, v.t. [L. penetro, from the root of pen, a point.]

1. To enter or pierce; to make way into another body; as, a sword or dart penetrates the body; oil penetrates wood; marrow, the most penetrating of oily substances. Arbuthnot.
2. To affect the mind; to cause to feel. I am penetrated with a lively sense of your generosity.
3. To reach by the intellect; to understand; as, to penetrate the meaning or design of any thing.
4. To enter; to pass into the interior; as, to penetrate a country.