hen
/hɛn/ noun, verb, adverb
Forms hens henning henned henne
- noun A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.
- noun A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.
- noun (uncommon) A female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.
- noun (figuratively) A woman.
- noun (UK, informal) A bride-to-be, particularly in the context of a hen night.
- noun (UK, informal) A hen night.
- noun (Scotland, informal) An affectionate term of address used to women or girls. “Don't cry, hen. Everything will be all right.”
- noun (transgender slang) The penis of a trans woman.
- verb (transitive, intransitive) Synonym of mother-hen.
- adverb (dialectal) Hence.
- verb (dialectal) To throw.
Synonyms
fishess henfish spawner clit clitoris femcock femdick girlcock girldick girlglock gock ladybits ladyparts ladystick princess wand shecock shenis strapless strap-off they/them biddy
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”).
From Middle English henne, heonne, hinne, from earlier henene, heonenen, henen, from Old English heonan, hionan, heonane, heonone (“hence, from here, away, from how”), from Proto-Germanic *hina, *hinanō (“from here”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with Dutch heen (“away”), German hin (“hence, from here”), Danish hen (“away, further, on”). See also hence.
From hen (“hence, away”), or a variant of hench.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The female of the domestic fowl; also, the female of grouse, pheasants, or any kind of birds; as, the heath hen; the gray hen.
Etymology [AS. henn, hen, hæn; akin to D. hen, OHG. henna, G. henne, Icel. hna, Dan. höna; the fem. corresponding to AS. hana cock, D. haan, OHG. hano, G. hahn, Icel. hani, Dan. & Sw. hane. Prob. akin to L. canere to sing, and orig. meaning, a singer. Cf. Chanticleer.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hen”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details