Penza •Balthazar, Belshazzar, jazzer •bonanza, Braganza, Constanza, extravaganza, kwanza, organza, Panzer, stanza •parser, plaza, tabula rasa•Shevardnadze • dopiaza •Nebuchadnezzar • Demelza •cadenza, cleanser, credenza, influenza, Penza •appraiser, blazer, eraser, Fraser, gazer, glazer, grazer, laser, mazer, praiser, razor, salmanazar, Weser •stargazer • trailblazer • hellraiser •appeaser, Caesar, easer, Ebenezer, El Giza, freezer, geezer, geyser, Louisa, Pisa, seizer, squeezer, teaser, Teresa, Theresa, visa, wheezer •crowd-pleaser • stripteaser •fizzer, quizzer, scissor •Windsor

Penza (pyĕn´zə), city (1991 est. pop. 551,000), capital of Penza region, S central European Russia, on the Sura River. It is a large railroad junction and the center of an extensive and fertile black-earth district. There are machine, engineering, paper, and food-processing industries. Founded in 1666 as a fortress, Penza was occupied by Stenka Razin in 1670, by the Tatars in 1717, and by Pugachev in 1774. Before the Bolshevik revolution, Penza was a major agricultural trading center. A hilltop city, it has since spread to the lowlands around the Sura.