hen

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "hen"

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /hɛn/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛn

Etymology 1[edit]

A mother hen with chicks.

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”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen (plural hens)

  1. A female chicken (Gallus gallus), particularly a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      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.
    Coordinate term: cock
  2. A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.
    Coordinate term: cock
    • 2023 June 17, Severin Carrell, “Dancing Capercaillie bird makes a tentative comeback in Scotland”, in The Guardian‎[5]:
      In Tain, north of Inverness, staff detected 11 males and at least seven hens – the highest number there since 2011.
  3. (uncommon) A female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.
    • 2005, Roderick Sutterby, Malcolm Greenhalgh, “Life in the Nursery”, in Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 21:
      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.
    Synonym: henfish
    Coordinate terms: cock, cockfish
  4. (figuratively) A woman.
    • 1785, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue:
      Hen, a woman. A cock and hen club; a club composed of men and women.
    1. (UK, informal) A bride-to-be, particularly in the context of a hen night.
  5. (UK, informal) A hen night.
  6. (Scotland, informal) An affectionate term of address used to women or girls.
    Don't cry, hen. Everything will be all right.
  7. (figuratively, derogatory, uncommon) A henlike person of either sex.
  8. The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a bivalve shellfish.
  9. (obsolete) A large pewter pot used in a tavern.
    Coordinate term: chicken
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

hen (third-person singular simple present hens, present participle henning, simple past and past participle henned)

  1. Alternative form of mother-hen
    • 1943, McCall's - Volume 71, page 69:
      Once he had flared up, "If ever a man was henned, it's me!"
    • 1984, Susan C. Feldhake, Love Beyond Surrender, page 52:
      Mammy henned the black workers into placing the trunks beside the girls.
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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.

Adverb[edit]

hen (not comparable)

  1. (dialectal) Hence.

Etymology 3[edit]

From hen (“hence, away”), or a variant of hench.

Verb[edit]

hen (third-person singular simple present hens, present participle henning, simple past and past participle henned)

  1. (dialectal) To throw.

Anagrams[edit]

Breton[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Brythonic *hen, from Proto-Celtic *senos, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

Adjective[edit]

hen

  1. old, ancient

Cimbrian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German haben, from Old High German hāben, from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have; to hold”). Cognate with German haben, English have.

Verb[edit]

hen (irregular, auxiliary hen)

  1. (Tredici Comuni) to have

References[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Low German hen, ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *hiz (“here”). Related to Swedish hän, English hence, and German hin.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

hen

  1. Used with a verb, indicating a movement towards or to something.
    Gå hen til din far.
    Go to your father.
    Hestene går hen imod mig.
    The horses are walking towards me.

Usage notes[edit]

Contrast with henne; where hen indicates movement, henne indicates position. Thus hvor løber han henne? means "where is he running?", whereas hvor løber han hen? means "to where is he running?".

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Dutch hin, from Proto-Germanic *himaz.

Pronoun[edit]

hen (personal)

  1. they (subject pronoun)
  2. them (object pronoun)
Usage notes[edit]

See the usage note at hun for details on use.

Inflection[edit]
Dutch personal pronouns
subject object possessive reflexive genitive5
singular full unstr. full unstr. full unstr. pred.
1st person ik 'k1 mij me mijn m'n1 mijne me mijner, mijns
2nd person jij je jou je jouw je jouwe je jouwer, jouws
2nd person archaic or regiolectal gij ge u – uw – uwe u uwer, uws
2nd person formal u – u – uw – uwe zich uwer, uws
3rd person masculine hij ie1 hem 'm1 zijn z'n1 zijne zich zijner, zijns
3rd person feminine zij ze haar h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 haar h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 hare zich harer, haars
3rd person neuter het 't1 het 't1 zijn z'n1 zijne zich zijner, zijns
plural
1st person wij we ons – ons, onze2 – onze ons onzer, onzes
2nd person jullie je jullie je jullie je – je –
2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 gij ge u – uw – uwe u uwer, uws
2nd person formal u – u – uw – uwe zich uwer, uws
3rd person zij ze hen3, hun4 ze hun – hunne zich hunner, huns
1) Not as common in written language.
2) Inflected as an adjective.
3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative).
4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). 		5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions.
6) To differentiate from the singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural.
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle Dutch henne, from Old Dutch *henna, from Proto-West Germanic *hannju, from Proto-Germanic *hanjō, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- (“to sing”).

Noun[edit]

hen f (plural hennen, diminutive hennetje n, masculine haan)

  2. hen, female chicken; female of a related species.
  3. A female of the species of birds brooding on the ground.
  4. (figuratively) 'bird', colloquial term for a human female
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • Jersey Dutch: hän

Etymology 3[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronoun[edit]

hen (possessive hun)

  1. (gender-neutral, nonstandard) they (singular) (subject pronoun). A gender-neutral singular third-person personal pronoun.
  2. (gender-neutral, nonstandard) them (singular) (object pronoun). A gender-neutral singular third-person personal pronoun.

Finnish[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen

  1. genitive singular of he (“he (a letter of some Semitic alphabets)”)

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

hen

  1. Rōmaji transcription of へん

Mandarin[edit]

Romanization[edit]

hen

  1. Nonstandard spelling of hēn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of hén.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of hěn.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of hèn.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English henn, from Proto-West Germanic *hannju, from Proto-Germanic *hanjō.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen (plural hennes or hennen, genitive hennes or henne)

  1. hen, chicken
  2. female bird

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Mohawk[edit]

Particle[edit]

hen

  1. yes

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Low German hen, henne.

Adverb[edit]

hen

  1. used with a verb, indicating a movement towards or to something.
  2. (dialectal) where

Etymology 2[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Through Swedish hen from Finnish hän.

Pronoun[edit]

hen (third person singular gender-neutral personal pronoun, possessive hens)

  1. (neologism) they
    Hvis noen kjører over fartsgrensen, må hen betale en bot.
    If someone exceeds the speed limit, they must pay a fine.
    Kommer studenten for sent, må hen vente ute.
    If the student comes too late, they have to wait outside.
    Har du nummeret hens?
    Do you have their number?
Usage notes[edit]
  • Hen can be used when someone's gender is unknown or irrelevant, or to refer to someone who prefers a gender neutral pronoun instead of han (“he”) or hun (“she”).
See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Low German hen, henne.

Adverb[edit]

hen

  1. used with a verb, indicating a movement towards or to something.
  2. (dialectal) where

Etymology 2[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Through Swedish hen from Finnish hän.

Pronoun[edit]

hen (third person singular gender-neutral personal pronoun, possessive hens)

  1. (neologism) they
    Kjem studenten for seint, må hen venta ute.
    If the student comes too late, they have to wait outside.
    Har du nummeret hens?
    Do you have their number?
Usage notes[edit]
  • Hen can be used when someone's gender is unknown or irrelevant, or to refer to someone who prefers a gender neutral pronoun instead of han (“he”) or ho (“she”).
See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • “hen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • “hen”, in Norsk ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet (in Norwegian Nynorsk), volume 5, Oslo: Samlaget, 2005, columns 292–293
  • “hen” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring
  • “hen_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Further reading[edit]

Polish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *eno.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

hen (not comparable)

  1. (literary) far away

Further reading[edit]

  • hen in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • hen in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scots[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen (uncountable)

  1. Term of address for a woman.
    Alright Mary hen?
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Swedish[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
FWOTD – 11 March 2013
A unified femininity and masculinity symbol with “hen” in the center
“Hen” represented among other personal pronouns in Swedish

Etymology 1[edit]

Created as an alternative to hon (“she”) and han (“he”). The coining of the word has probably been influenced by the Finnish hän, a personal pronoun used about human beings and which does not specify gender (Finnish lacks grammatical gender entirely). Hen was suggested as early as 1966 by linguist Rolf Dunås in Swedish regional newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning and was proposed again in a 1994 article by linguist Hans Karlgren, but did not receive widespread attention until around 2010.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hen (third person singular gender-neutral personal pronoun, oblique hen or henom, possessive hens)

  1. (neologism) A third-person singular pronoun of unspecified gender; they, thon; alternative to hon (“she”) and han (“he”).
    • 2011, Anders Lokko, “En sång om att ha följt sitt hjärta”, in Svenska Dagbladet‎[6]:
      Alla skilsmässor och separationer är olika. Men i nästan samtliga är det i slutändan någon som blir lämnad och någon som lämnar. Ingen av de rollerna är enkel. Fast det är när den som lämnar gör det för att hen har träffat någon annan […]
      All divorces and separations are different. But in almost all cases, someone is left behind or someone leaves. None of those roles are easy. However, it's when the one who does leaves because they have met someone else […]
    • 2011, Lotten Wiklund, “Jag vill vara hen – inte hon eller han”, in Dagens Nyheter‎[7], archived from the original on 2 June 2013:
      I efterhand har hen förstått att det förmodligen har att göra med att hen aldrig riktigt accepterat att det bara skulle finnas två kön.
      In hindsight, they have come to understand that it probably has to do with the fact that they have never accepted that there are just two genders.
    • 2012, Jesper Lundqvist, Kivi och Monsterhund:
      […]ska hen få en hund, kan de halvt säkert lova[…]
      […]then they will get a dog, they can almost promise[…]
    • 2013, Lova Olsson, “Arnholm lanserar 'hen' i riksdagen”, in Svenska Dagbladet‎[8]:
      – Målet är att varje individ ska få det stöd hen behöver för att så snabbt som möjligt lära sig svenska, komma i arbete och klara sin egen försörjning, sade den nyblivna jämställdhetsministern.
      – The goal is to make sure that every individual should receive the support they need to learn Swedish, start working and manage to support themselves as soon as possible, said the newly appointed Minister of Gender Equality.
    • 2013, Ann-Marie Begler, Caroline Dyrefors Grufman, “Flera allvarliga kränkningar i skolan de senaste veckorna”, in Dagens Nyheter‎[9]:
      – En person i personalen som sliter i och skäller på barnen, hotar med stryk och skrämmer dem med det hen vet att de är rädda för.
      – A person on the staff pushes around and yells at the children, threatens with violence and frightens them with things they know they are afraid of.
    • 2014, Nina Åkestam, Meningen med hela skiten‎[10]:
      Vill hen att du ska chansa, eller ta det lugnt?
      Do they want you to gamble or to take it easy?
    • 2015, Ami Sundeman, Anna Lytsy, Kosmosdialogerna‎[11]:
      Hens utgångspunkt är alltid större och mera allomfattande än så.
      Their starting point is always greater and more all-encompassing than that.
Usage notes[edit]
  • Although the word has gained common use, it is not nearly as common as the gendered words han and hon. From 2011 to 2020, usage of hen increased hundredfold in the media, but no increase was seen in 2021.[2] It has been especially popular among activists for gender equality and adherents of queer theory, and with the transgender community.[3] In 2022, usage of hen was ranked in shared first place alongside misspelling of words as the most annoying language phenomenon in a Swedish survey.[4] Publishers of manuals of style and the Swedish Language Council do not proscribe the usage of hen, but recommend the inflected forms hens as the possessive and hen over henom as the object.[5][6]

See also[edit]

Swedish personal pronouns
Number Person Type Nominative Oblique Possessive
common neuter plural
singular first — jag mig, mej3 min mitt mina
second — du dig, dej3 din ditt dina
third masculine (person) han honom, han2, en5 hans
feminine (person) hon henne, na5 hennes
gender-neutral (person)1 hen hen, henom7 hens
common (noun) den den dess
neuter (noun) det det dess
indefinite man or en4 en ens
reflexive — sig, sej3 sin sitt sina
plural first — vi oss vår, våran2 vårt, vårat2 våra
second — ni er er, eran2, ers6 ert, erat2 era
archaic I eder eder, eders6 edert edra
third — de, dom3 dem, dom3 deras
reflexive — sig, sej3 sin sitt sina
1Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, and has gained widespread acceptance today.
2Informal
4Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.
5Informal, somewhat dialectal
6Formal address
7Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse hein, from Proto-Germanic *hainō.

Related to Norwegian and Icelandic hein (“whetstone”), Old English hān (“stone, rock”) and modern English hone. Further related to Sanskrit शाण (śāṇa) and Latin cōs with the same meaning. See also (dialectal) Swedish hena (“to hone”).[7]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen c

  1. (archaic, dialectal) a whetstone, particularly the small and soft kind.
Declension[edit]
Declension of hen 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative hen henen henar henarna
Genitive hens henens henars henarnas
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Anders Q Björkman (2012 March 8) “”Hen” föreslogs av språkforskare redan 1994 – i SvD [”Hen” proposed by linguists already 1994 – in SvD]”, in Svenska Dagbladet‎[1], archived from the original on 10 April 2013
  2. ^ “Hen står still i svenska medier [hen is stagnant in Swedish media]”, in Språktidningen, Språktidningen, 2022 January 18, retrieved 18 January 2022
  3. ^ “”Jag vill vara hen – inte hon eller han” [”I want to be hen – not hon or han”]”, in Dagens Nyheter‎[2], 2011 May 17
  4. ^ “Särskrivningar och hen irriterar mest i svenskan [Splitting of compound words and hen causing most irritation in Swedish]”, in Språktidningen‎[3], Språktidningen, 2022 April 25, retrieved 26 January 2023
  5. ^ hen in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
  6. ^ “Hur använder man pronomenet hen? [How is the pronoun hen used?]”, in Aktuellt språkråd‎[4], Swedish Language Council, 2014 August 25, archived from the original on 29 May 2015
  7. ^ hen in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Veps[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *hëëno. Cognates include Finnish hieno.

Adjective[edit]

hen

  1. fine
  2. refined, elegant

Inflection[edit]

Inflection of hen (inflection type 1/ilo)
nominative sing. hen
genitive sing. henon
partitive sing. henod
partitive plur. henoid
singular plural
nominative hen henod
accusative henon henod
genitive henon henoiden
partitive henod henoid
essive-instructive henon henoin
translative henoks henoikš
inessive henos henoiš
elative henospäi henoišpäi
illative henoho henoihe
adessive henol henoil
ablative henolpäi henoilpäi
allative henole henoile
abessive henota henoita
comitative henonke henoidenke
prolative henodme henoidme
approximative I henonno henoidenno
approximative II henonnoks henoidennoks
egressive henonnopäi henoidennopäi
terminative I henohosai henoihesai
terminative II henolesai henoilesai
terminative III henossai —
additive I henohopäi henoihepäi
additive II henolepäi henoilepäi

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Cognate with Kuy [Salavan] hɛːn ("to cough").

Noun[edit]

hen • (𠻃, 𤹖)

  1. (pathology) (bệnh ~) asthma
    Synonyms: suyễn, hen suyễn
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms

Verb[edit]

hen • (𠻃, 𤹖)

  1. (North Central Vietnam) to cough

Etymology 2[edit]

Particle[edit]

hen

  1. (Southern Vietnam) okay?; alright?

Welsh[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Brythonic *hen, from Proto-Celtic *senos, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hen (feminine singular hen, plural henion, equative hyned, comparative hŷn or hynach or henach, superlative hynaf or henaf, not mutable)

  1. old, aged; ancient, antique, pristine, former; inveterate, chronic; original; senior, elder
  2. stale, mouldy, musty, fusty
  3. unreformed, old, traditional (of style or mode of expressing dates according to the Julian Calendar); reckoned according to the Old Style (of festival)

Usage notes[edit]

  • This adjective has an alternate, more “senior” comparative in the form of hŷn and an equivalent alternate superlative in the form of hynaf.
  • Unlike most Welsh adjectives, this word goes before the noun.
  • Like most Welsh adjectives that go before the noun, this word triggers a soft mutation in the word that follows it.

Derived terms[edit]

Yola[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English hen, from Old English henn, from Proto-West Germanic *hannju.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen (plural henès or henes)

  1. hen
    Coordinate term: cuck
    • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 4, page 104:
      Hea pryet ich mought na ha chicke or hen,
      He prayed I might not have chicken nor hen,

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 46
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