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hen

noun
/hɛn/

Etymology

From Middle English hen, from Old English henn (“hen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hannju, from Proto-Germanic *hanjō (“hen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kan-, *kana- (“to sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hanne (“hen”), West Frisian hin (“hen”), Dutch hen (“hen”), German Low German Heen (“hen”), German Henne (“hen”), Danish høne (“hen”), Swedish höna (“hen”), Icelandic hæna (“hen”). Related to Old English hana (“cock, rooster”). Also cognate to Latin cicōnia (“stork”), Latin canō (“to sing”), Russian каню́к (kanjúk, “buzzard”). Compare Russian пету́х (petúx, “rooster, cock”) from Russian петь (petʹ, “to sing”). Etymology 1, noun sense 7 after cock (“male chicken; man's penis”).

  1. inherited from *kan-✻
  2. inherited from *hanjō✻
  3. inherited from *hannju✻
  4. inherited from henn
  5. inherited from hen

Definitions

  1. A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.

  2. A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.

    • In Tain, north of Inverness, staff detected 11 males and at least seven hens – the highest number there since 2011.

  3. A female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.

  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. A woman.

      • Hen, a woman. A cock and hen club; a club composed of men and women.

    2. A hen night.

    3. An affectionate term of address used to women or girls.

      • Don't cry, hen. Everything will be all right.

    4. The penis of a trans woman.

      • Coordinate term: cock

    5. A henlike person of either sex.

    6. The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a bivalve shellfish.

    7. A large pewter pot used in a tavern.

    8. Synonym of mother-hen.

      • Once he had flared up, "If ever a man was henned, it's me!"
      • Mammy henned the black workers into placing the trunks beside the girls.

    9. Hence.

    10. To throw.

The neighborhood

Derived

angry as a wet hen, battery hen, better an egg today than a hen tomorrow, blue hen, blue hen-hawk, bush-hen, chaparral hen, cock-and-hen club, cock and hen, cock-and-hen, Cornish game hen, Cornish hen, daker-hen, dakerhen, fat hen, gorhen, grey hen, greyhen, gray hen, guinea-hen, guinea hen, guinea hen weed, hazel hen, hazel-hen, heath-hen, heath hen, hen and chicken, hen and chicks, hen-and-egg, hen-balk, henbane, hen-blindness, hen-brained, hen-cackle, hen-clam, hen clam, hencoop, hen-corn, hen-court, hen-dam · +110 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for hen. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA