hen

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See also hēn, hén, hěn, and hèn

Contents

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[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 (comparative more hen, superlative most hen)

  1. (dialectal) Hence.

Etymology 2[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.
A mother hen with chicks.

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English, from Old English henn, hænn (“hen, female chicken”), from Proto-Germanic *hanjō (“hen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kana- (“to sing”). Cognate with Dutch hen (“hen”), German Henne (“hen”), Icelandic hæna (“hen”). Related also to Old English hana (“cock, rooster”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen (plural hens)

  1. A female bird.
  2. (specifically) A female chicken, especially one kept for its eggs.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, The Mirror and the Lamp[4]:
      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.
  3. (slang) A woman.
  4. (informal) The woman whose impending marriage is being celebrated at a hen night.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
female bird
female chicken
slang: woman
See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Breton[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Cognate to Welsh hen and Irish sean. From Proto-Celtic *senos, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”).

Adjective[edit]

hen

  1. old

Danish[edit]

Adverb[edit]

hen

  1. here

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Pronoun[edit]

hen (personal)

  1. them
Declension[edit]
Dutch personal pronouns
subject object possessive reflexive
singular full unstr. full unstr. full unstr. pred.
1st person ik 'k1 mij me mijn m'n1 mijne me
2nd person jij je jou je jouw je jouwe je
2nd person dialectal gij ge u – uw – uwe u
2nd person formal u – u – uw – uwe zich
3rd person masculine hij ie1 hem 'm1 zijn z'n1 zijne zich
3rd person feminine zij ze haar 'r1, d'r1 haar 'r1, d'r1 hare zich
3rd person neuter het 't1 het 't1 zijn z'n1 zijne zich
plural
1st person wij we ons – ons, onze2 – onze ons
2nd person jullie je jullie je jullie je – je
2nd person dialectal gij ge u – uw – uwe u
2nd person formal u – u – uw – uwe zich
3rd person zij ze hen3, hun4 ze hun – hunne zich
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).


Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hanjō.

Noun[edit]

hen f (plural hennen, diminutive hennetje)

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

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

hen

  1. See 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]

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Scots[edit]

Noun[edit]

hen (uncountable)

  1. Term of address for a woman.
    Alright Mary hen?

Swedish[edit]

FWOTD - 11 March 2013

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 the 1966 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]

  • IPA: /hɛn/
  • Audio (Central Standard Swedish)
    		(file)

Pronoun[edit]

hen third-person singular, masculine, nominative case (accusative henom or hen, possessive hens)

  1. (neologism) A personal pronoun of unspecified gender; alternative to hon ("she") or han ("he").
    Det är viktigt att hen får bestämma hur vi ska tilltala henom.
    It is important that he/she decide how we should address him/her.
    • 2011, Anders Lokko, Svenska Dagbladet, "Jag vet hur fruktansvärt ont det gör"[5]
      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 he/she has met someone else [...]
    • 2011, Lotten Wiklund, Dagens Nyheter, "Jag vill vara hen - inte hon eller han"[6]
      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, he/she has come to understand that it probably has to do with the fact that he/she has never accepted that there are just two genders.
    • 2013, Lova Olsson, Svenska Dagbladet, "Arnholm lanserar 'hen' i riksdagen"[7]
      - 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 he/she needs to learn Swedish, start working and manage to support themselves as soon as possible, said the newly appointed Minister of Gender Equality.
Usage notes[edit]

Since around 2010 hen has seen increased usage, though it has not entered everyday language either in spoken or written form. It has been especially popular among activists for gender equality, adherents of queer theory and with the transgender community.[2] In the Swedish public debate hen is controversial and considered ideologically charged. It is also seen as a very radical language alteration since it would alter the very limited number of personal pronouns in Swedish. Publishers of manuals of style and the Swedish Language Council generally recommend against using hen due to the political connotations as well as its conjugations henom and hens since they would mean a major change in a set of personal pronouns that have remained stable at least since the late Middle Ages.[3]

Etymology 2[edit]

Related to Norwegian and Icelandic hein ("whetstone") and Old English hān ("stone; rock") and modern English hone. See also Sanskrit sāna-, sānī and Latin cōs with the same meaning. See also (dialectal) Swedish hena ("to hone").[4]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

  • hen (singular definite henen, plural indefinte henar)
  1. (archaic, dialectal) A whetstone, particularly the small and soft kind.
Declension[edit]
Declension of hen
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative hen henen henar henarna
genitive hens henens henars henarnas
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Svenska Dagbladet, 8 March 2012.[1]
  2. ^ Dagens Nyheter, 17 May 2011.[2]
  3. ^ Swedish Language Council, 29 January 2012[3]
  4. ^ Svenska Akademiens ordbok, column H796

Welsh[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Cognate to Breton hen and Irish sean. From Proto-Celtic *senos, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”).

Adjective[edit]

hen m & f (plural hen, equative hened, comparative henach, superlative henaf)

  1. old, ancient

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.
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