hen
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
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”).
Inflected forms:
form: hens
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: henne
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: hens
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: henning
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: henned
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: henned
pos: verb
tags: past
form: henne
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.
pos: noun
examples: She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
gloss: A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.
pos: noun
examples: In Tain, north of Inverness, staff detected 11 males and at least seven hens – the highest number there since 2011.
gloss: A female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.
pos: noun
tags: uncommon
examples: As spawning time approaches – autumn or very early winter in most rivers, though in some late-run streams salmon may spawn as late as January or February – the hen's colouration becomes first a matt-pewter and then a drab dark brown-grey. The cock fish, in contrast, begins to gain some brighter colours.
gloss: A woman.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: Hen, a woman. A cock and hen club; a club composed of men and women.
gloss: A woman.
pos: noun
tags: UK
figuratively
informal
gloss: A hen night.
pos: noun
tags: UK
informal
gloss: An affectionate term of address used to women or girls.
pos: noun
tags: Scotland
informal
examples: Don't cry, hen. Everything will be all right.
gloss: The penis of a trans woman.
pos: noun
examples: Coordinate term: cock
gloss: A henlike person of either sex.
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
figuratively
uncommon
gloss: The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a bivalve shellfish.
pos: noun
gloss: A large pewter pot used in a tavern.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: Synonym of mother-hen.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
transitive
examples: 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.
Synonyms: hen-bird
bachelorette
Derived words: 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
hen do
hen-dove
hen dove
hen-driver
hen-feathered
henfest
hen-fish
hen-flesh
hen-footed
hen-frigate
hen-fruit
hen-harm
hen harrier
hen-harrier
hen-hawk
hen-headed
hen-hearted
hen hearted
hen-heartedness
henhood
hen-house
henhouse
hen house
henhussy
hen-hutch
hen-keep
hen-killer
henless
henlike
hen-like
hen-loft
hen louse
hen-mould
hennery
hen night
hennish
henny
hen of grease
hen of Guinea
hen of the woods
henopause
hen-party
hen party
hen-peck
henpeck
hen peck
henpecked
hen-pigeon
hen pigeon
hen-plant
henroost
hen run
hen-run
hen's bill
hen-scratch
hen scratch
hen's fruit
henshit
hen's teeth
hens' teeth
hen's tooth
hensure
hensureness
hen-tailed
hen-toed
hen-trough
hen up
hen weekend
hen-wife
henwife
hen-witted
henyard
hen-yard
jungle hen
laying hen
like a hen on a hot griddle
like a hen with one chick
mad as a wet hen
mallee hen
Maori hen
marsh hen
miserable as a wet hen
moorhen
mother hen
mother-hen
mud hen
mudhen
newshen
Our Lady's hen
peahen
Pharaoh's hen
Port Egmont hen
rare as hens' teeth
rare as hen's teeth
rice hen
sage hen
sagehen
scarce as hen's teeth
sea hen
sea-hen
spruce hen
stank hen
swamphen
tappit hen
turkey hen
turkey-hen
water hen
waterhen
wild as a wet hen
woodhen
Translations:
lang: Armenian
word: մարի
roman: mari
lang: Avestan
word: [script needed] (kahrkäsah)
lang: Catalan
word: au femella
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 母雞 /母鸡
roman: mǔjī
lang: Corsican
word: gallina
lang: Corsican
word: ghjallina
lang: Corsican
word: ghjaddina
lang: Czech
word: slepice
lang: Dalmatian
word: čauca
lang: Danish
word: høne
lang: Dutch
word: wijfje
lang: Dutch
word: hen
lang: Eshtehardi
word: کرگه
roman: karga
lang: Esperanto
word: birdino
lang: Finnish
word: kana
lang: German
word: Weibchen
lang: Greek
word: πουλάδα
roman: pouláda
lang: Hungarian
word: tojó
lang: Italian
word: gallina
lang: Japanese
word: めんどり
roman: mendori
lang: Japanese
word: 雌鶏
roman: mendori
lang: Macedonian
word: же́нка
roman: žénka
lang: Malay
word: ayam betina
lang: Māori
word: kātua
lang: Māori
word: uha
lang: Māori
word: uwha
lang: Old English
word: cwēnfugol
lang: Parthian
word: karga (kirga)
lang: Persian
word: مرغ
roman: morġ
lang: Middle Persian
word: kirk
lang: Portuguese
word: ave-fêmea
lang: Portuguese
word: pássara
lang: Punjabi
word: ਕੁੱਕੜੀ
roman: kukkaṛī
lang: Quechua
word: tuqtu
lang: Russian
word: ку́рочка
roman: kúročka
lang: Russian
word: са́мка
roman: sámka
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: cearc
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: женка
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: ženka
lang: Spanish
word: ave hembra
lang: Swahili
word: tembe
lang: Swedish
word: höna
lang: Tamil
word: பெண்
roman: peṇ
lang: Telugu
word: ఆడపక్షి
roman: āḍapakṣi
lang: Unami
word: xkwehële
lang: Dutch
word: moederkloek
lang: French
word: poule
lang: Greek
word: κότα
roman: kóta
lang: Italian
word: gallina
lang: Macedonian
word: ко́кошка
roman: kókoška
lang: Portuguese
word: galinha
lang: Russian
word: тёлка
roman: tjólka
lang: Russian
word: ба́ба
roman: bába
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: кока
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: koka
lang: Swedish
word: brud
lang: Swedish
word: brutta
lang: Tamil
word: பெண்
roman: peṇ