den

See also: Appendix:Variations of "den"

Languages (36)

Translingual • English

---

Afrikaans • Akan • Bambara • Breton • Catalan • Cimbrian • Cornish • Czech • Danish • Dutch • German • Irish • Japanese • Luxembourgish • Malay • Mandarin • Messapic • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Minangkabau • Mokilese • Nigerian Pidgin • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Czech • Papiamentu • Pennsylvania German • Polish • Pumpokol • Russenorsk • Spanish • Sranan Tongo • Swedish • Zhuang

---

Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Dene.

Symbol

den

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Slavey. (macrolanguage)

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow, den, cave, attic”), Dutch den (“ship's deck, threshing-floor, mountain floor”), Middle Low German denne, danne (“threshing-floor, small dale”), German Tenne (“threshing-floor, barn for threshing”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛn/, enPR: dĕn
• (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /dɪn/, enPR: dĭn

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Homophone: din (pin–pen merger)

Noun

den (plural dens)

1. A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.

   Synonyms: lair; luster; Wiktionary appendix of animal terms, including their homes

   a den of robbers

   Daniel was put into the lions’ den.

2. A squalid or wretched place; a haunt.

   a den of vice

   an opium den; a gambling den

   • 1980, Colin Hay, Ron Strykert, “Down Under”, performed by Men at Work:

     Lying in a den in Bombay
     With a slack jaw and not much to say

3. A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining.

   Synonym: family room

4. Synonym of fort (“structure improvised from furniture, etc. for playing games.”).

   Our little girls love using bedsheets and other stuff around the house to make dens in the living room and pretending they're on adventures.

5. (UK, Scotland, obsolete) A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell.
   • 1806, Sir William Forbes, An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D., including many of his Original Letters:

     I have made several visits of late to the Den of Rubislaw

6. A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together.

Derived terms

• beard the lion in his den
• Boris's den
• dealer's den
• denful
• denlike
• den mother
• denner
• den of iniquity
• dragon's den
• drug den
• gambling den
• lion's den
• Maggie's den
• Major's den
• opium den
• Tony's den

Translations

home of certain animals

• Arabic: عَرِين m (ʕarīn) (for bigger carnivores), جُحْر m (juḥr) (for smaller carnivores, rodents and reptiles), عُشّ m (ʕušš) (for birds)
• Armenian: որջ (hy) (orǰ), բույն (hy) (buyn)
• Azerbaijani: yuva (az)
• Bashkir: оя (oya)
• Belarusian: нара́ f (nará), бярло́г m (bjarlóh), мярло́га f (mjarlóha), ло́гавішча n (lóhavišča), ло́гава n (lóhava)
• Bulgarian: бърло́га (bg) f (bǎrlóga), лего́вище (bg) n (legóvište)
• Burmese: သားရဲတွင်း (my) (sa:rai:twang:)
• Catalan: cau (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巢穴 (zh) (cháoxué), 獸穴 / 兽穴 (zh) (shòuxué), 獸窟 / 兽窟 (shòukū), 獸窩 / 兽窝 (shòuwō)

• Czech: doupě n, nora (cs) f, brloh m
• Danish: hule (da) c
• Dutch: hol (nl) n
• Estonian: pesa (et), koobas (et), urg (et)
• Finnish: luola (fi), pesä (fi)
• French: antre (fr) m, tanière (fr) f, repaire (fr) m
• Gagauz: yuva
• Galician: tobo (gl) m, paleira (gl) f
• Georgian: ბუნაგი (ka) (bunagi)
• German: Höhle (de) f, Bau (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: φωλεός m (phōleós)

• Hebrew: מְחִילָה (he) f (mekhilá), גּוֹב (he) m (gov), גֹּב (he) m (gov)
• Hindi: मांद (hi) f (mānd)
• Hungarian: odú (hu), barlang (hu), kotorék (hu)
• Indonesian: liang (id)
• Irish: brocais f, pluais f, uachais f
• Italian: covo (it) m, tana (it) f
• Japanese: 巣窟 (ja) (そうくつ, sōkutsu)
• Kalmyk: кевтр (kevtr)
• Kaurna: yapa
• Kazakh: апан (apan), аунақ (aunaq), жатақ (jataq), ұя (ūä), үңгір (üñgır)
• Komi-Permyak: гу (gu)
• Komi-Zyrian: гу (gu)
• Korean: 굴(窟) (ko) (gul), 소굴(巢窟) (ko) (sogul)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kun (ku) f, qul (ku)

• Kyrgyz: үңкүр (ky) (üŋkür), түнөк (ky) (tünök)
• Lao: ສຸ່ງ (sung)
• Latin: lustrum n
• Latvian: miga (lv) f
• Lithuanian: urvas m
• Macedonian: дувло n (duvlo)
• Manx: towl m, aaght m
• Maore Comorian: gumbo class 5/6
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: вынем (vyńem)

  Western Mari: пӹжӓш (pÿžäš)

• Middle English: den
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hi (no) n

• Occitan: tuta (oc) f
• Ojibwe: waazh, waanzh
• Ottoman Turkish: این (in)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: لانِه (fa) (lâne), کُنام (fa) (konâm)

• Polish: nora (pl) f, barłóg (pl) m, jama (pl) f, legowisko (pl) n, pieczara (pl) f, legowisko (pl) n, leże n, gawra (pl)
• Portuguese: toca (pt), cova (pt)
• Romanian: vizuină (ro) f
• Russian: нора́ (ru) f (norá), ло́гово (ru) n (lógovo), берло́га (ru) f (berlóga) (esp. bears), ло́говище (ru) n (lógovišče)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: брлог m, јазбина f, јама f, лог m

  Roman: brlog (sh) m, jazbina (sh) f, jama (sh) f, log (sh) m

• Sicilian: jazzu (scn) m
• Slovak: dúpä f, nora f, brloh (sk) m
• Slovene: brlog (sl) m inan
• Spanish: madriguera (es) f, cubil (es) m, guarida (es) f
• Swedish: gryt (sv) n, håla (sv) c, jordkula (sv) c
• Tagalog: kubil
• Tajik: лона (lona), сӯрох (sürox)
• Tatar: оя (tt) (oya), өн (tt) (ön)
• Tocharian B: lesto
• Turkish: in (tr)
• Turkmen: süren
• Tuvan: ижээн (ijeen)
• Udmurt: гу (gu)
• Ukrainian: нора́ (uk) f (norá), барлі́г (uk) m (barlíh), лі́гвище n (líhvyšče), лі́гво n (líhvo)
• Urdu: اَڈَّہ m (aḍḍa), غار m (ġār)
• Uyghur: ئۇۋا (uwa), ئاپان (apan)
• Uzbek: in (uz), uya (uz)
• Vietnamese: hang (vi)
• Welsh: ffau f

squalid or wretched place

• Aghwan: 𐕐𐔰𐕎 (šan)
• Bulgarian: свърта́лище (bg) n (svǎrtálište), барда́к (bg) m (bardák), верте́п (bg) m (vertép)
• Finnish: pesä (fi), luola (fi)
• Indonesian: liang (id)
• Irish: poll m
• Latin: lustrum n
• Maori: hāpoki
• Polish: melina (pl) f, speluna (pl) f
• Portuguese: enxovia (pt)
• Russian: прито́н (ru) m (pritón)
• Swedish: skyffe (sv) n
• Vietnamese: hang ổ (vi)
• Welsh: ogof (cy) f

living room of a house

• Bulgarian: дне́вна (bg) f (dnévna)
• Danish: værelse (da) n, hybel c, (slang) hummer n, hule (da) c
• Dutch: woonkamer (nl) c, huiskamer (nl) c, leefkamer (nl) c
• Finnish: olohuone (fi)
• French: salon (fr) m
• German: Wohnzimmer (de) n
• Indonesian: ruang santai
• Irish: nead (ga) f
• Italian: salotto (it) m
• Latin: tablīnum n
• Spanish: gabinete (es) m
• Turkish: in (tr), sofa (tr)
• Welsh: lloches f

Verb

den (third-person singular simple present dens, present participle denning, simple past and past participle denned)

1. (reflexive) To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den.
2. (intransitive, zoology) Of an animal, to use as a den; to take up residence in.
   • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 203:

     Although present in virtually all habitats, it preferred to den in caves, so its distribution, especially in cold, northern areas, may have been limited to limestone and other rocky regions where caves form.

   • 2023 August 30, Patrick Greenfield, “Why it may be time to stop using the polar bear as a symbol of the climate crisis”, in The Guardian‎^[5], →ISSN:

     “Denning” – behaviour around making dens – has changed and bears are swimming long distances, but, says Aars, there is still enough sea ice in the spring for the bears to hunt successfully.

Etymology 2

From Old French denier, from Latin denarius.

Noun

den

1. Abbreviation of denier (a unit of weight).

Etymology 3

Noun

den (plural dens)

1. (Northumbria, chiefly in place names) Alternative form of dene.

Derived terms

• Walsden

Etymology 4

Adverb

den (not comparable)

1. Pronunciation spelling of then, representing AAVE, Bermuda English.

See also

• good-den

Anagrams

• -end, DNE, End, NDE, NED, Ned, edn., end, end-, ned

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch den.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛn/

Noun

den (plural denne)

1. pine (tree)

Akan

Pronunciation

• Tone: LL

Adjective

den

1. (Twi) hard

   nsa yɛ den ― the hand is hard

Related terms

(Nouns)

• denhyɛ

(Adverbs)

• denneennen

(Adjectives)

• dennen

Bambara

Noun

den

1. child
2. fruit

Derived terms

(Sense 1)

• denkɛ
• denkundi
• denkura
• denmarayɔrɔ
• denmisɛn
• denmuso
• denso

Verb

den (intransitive)

1. to bear fruit

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *dün, from Proto-Celtic *gdonyos (“human, person”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰom-yo- (“earthling, human”), a derivation of *dʰéǵʰōm (“earth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdẽːn/

Noun

den m (plural tud or denion or dened)

1. human being
2. person, man
3. husband

Mutation

Mutation of den

	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
singular	den	zen	unchanged	ten
plural	denion	zenion	unchanged	tenion

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Breton.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Catalan

Verb

den

1. inflection of dar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

Cimbrian

Pronoun

den

1. inflection of dèar:
   1. accusative singular masculine
   2. dative plural

Determiner

den

1. inflection of dèar:
   1. accusative singular masculine
   2. dative plural

See also

	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	dèar	dòi	des	dii / zòi
accusative	den	dòi	des	dii / zòi
dative	dèmme	dèar	dèmme	den

Further reading

• “den” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974), Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Cornish

Etymology

From Old Cornish den, from Proto-Brythonic *dün, from Proto-Celtic *gdonyos (“human, person”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰom-yo- (“earthling, human”), a derivation of *dʰéǵʰōm (“earth”).

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [dɛːn]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [deːn]

Noun

den m (plural tus)

1. man
2. person

Mutation

Mutation of den

unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed	mixed after 'th
den	dhen	unchanged	ten	ten	ten

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• “den” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈdɛn]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Czech den, from Proto-Slavic *dьnь (“day”).

Noun

den m inan or (archaic or literary) m anim (relational adjective denní)

1. day (24 hours, usually from midnight to midnight)

   jednoho dne ― one day, someday

   po několika dnech ― after a few days

   za pár dní ― in a couple of days

   Jednoho dne tě chytí. ― They're gonna catch you one day.

2. daytime (time between sunrise and sunset)
3. (astronomy) day (rotational period of a body orbiting a star)

   Den na Merkuru trvá téměř 59 pozemských dní. ― A day on Mercury lasts almost 59 terrestrial days.

Declension

Declension of den (mixed masculine inanimate reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	den	dni, dny
genitive	dne	dní, dnů
dative	dnu, dni	dnům
accusative	den	dni, dny
vocative	dne, dni	dni, dny
locative	dnu, dni	dnech
instrumental	dnem	dny

when animate:

Declension of den (mixed masculine animate reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	den	dnové
genitive	dne	dní, dnů
dative	dnu, dni, dnovi	dnům
accusative	dne	dni, dny
vocative	dne, dni	dnové
locative	dnu, dni, dnovi	dnech, dních
instrumental	dnem	dny, dni

Derived terms

adjectives

• celodenní
• codenní
• denní
• každodenní
• polodenní
• půldenní
• všední

adverbs

• denně
• dnes

nouns

• den D
• den sobotní
• denice
• deník

phrases

• dobrý den

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

den

1. genitive plural of dno

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

den

1. genitive plural of dna

Further reading

• “den”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “den”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “den”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Anagrams

• dne

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse þann, the accusative form of sá, from Proto-Germanic *sa (“that”), from Proto-Indo-European *só (“this, that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnˀ/, [ˈd̥ɛnˀ], [d̥ɛn], [d̥n̩]

Article

den c (neuter det, plural de)

1. (definite) the (used before an adjective preceding a noun)

   bilen - the car; den røde bil - the red car

See also

• -en

Pronoun

den c (neuter det, plural de)

1. (demonstrative) that, the
2. (personal) it

See also

Danish personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
	Second	modern / informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
		formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
		common (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		indefinite	man	en	ens
		reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
		archaic / formal			vor	vort	vore
	Second	–	I	jer	jeres
	Third	–	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	sig

Dutch

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch dan, danne, denne (“pine tree”), from Old Dutch *danna, from Proto-West Germanic *dannā (“pine tree”). Cognate with German Tanne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: den
• Rhymes: -ɛn

Noun

den m (plural dennen, diminutive dennetje n)

1. pine, pine tree

   Synonyms: dennenboom, pijnboom

   Hypernym: naaldboom

Derived terms

• dennenappel
• dennenboom
• dennenwolfsklauw
• grove den
• parasolden
• slanke den

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch den.

Pronunciation

• (Belgium) IPA^(key): /dən/
• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /dɛn/

Article

den

1. (archaic) dative masculine/neuter/plural of de (“the”)

   Nederland in den goeden ouden tijd. ― The Netherlands in the good old days.

   De baron gaf den koetsier een wenk en het rijtuig rolde heen. ― The baron gave the coachman a sign and the carriage rode away. (from the story Gaston von Frankrijk by J.J.A. Goeverneur)

   In den beginne schiep God den hemel en de aarde. ― In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2. (archaic) accusative masculine singular of de
3. (Southern, dialectal) masculine singular of de

Usage notes

• The distinction of the dative case, which had long been frail and without any basis in actual speech, widely fell out of use over the course of the 19th century. The use of den for the masculine object case, however, remained usual in the written language until the spelling reform of 1947. Since then only de is generally used in standard Dutch. Den survives in idiomatic expressions, including surnames (e.g. Van den Berg).
• In Flemish, Brabantian, and Limburgish dialects and vernaculars, den is still widely used with masculine nouns, but without any case distinction. Often den is used before vowels and certain consonants, while de is used before other consonants.
• The now common Netherlandic pronunciation /dɛn/ is a spelling pronunciation. The original pronunciation (still in use in Belgium) is with a schwa, /dən/.

Declension

Dutch definite article

	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
nominative	de	de	het	de
genitive1	des	der	des	der
dative1	den	der	den	den
accusative1	den	de	het	de
1) Archaic

Derived terms

• op den duur

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de(ː)n/, (stressed) [deːn], (unstressed) [dɛn ~ den ~ dɪn], (reduced) [dən ~ dn̩ ~ n̩]
  • The full form is used under sentence stress. Otherwise the vowel is normally shortened and may approach /ɛ/ or /ɪ/ depending on the accent. The reduced form is heard mostly, though not exclusively, after prepositions. (Colloquially, it may even be muted entirely after nasals: in den Garten > in’n Garten > in Garten.)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: dehn (stressed)
• Rhymes: -eːn

Article

den (definite)

1. inflection of der (“the”):
   1. accusative masculine singular
   2. dative plural

Declension

German definite articles

	singular			plural
	m	f	n
nominative	der	die	das	die
genitive	des	der	des	der
dative	dem	der	dem	den
accusative	den	die	das	die

Pronoun

den

1. that; whom; accusative masculine singular of der

Irish

Alternative forms

• de’n (superseded)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʲɛnˠ/, /dʲənˠ/
• (Connemara, Aran Islands) IPA^(key): /ɡənˠ/

Contraction

den

1. contraction of de an

   Bhris mé den chrann é. ― I broke it off the tree.

   Fuair sé bás den ocras. ― He died of hunger.

Usage notes

This contraction is obligatory, i.e. *de an never appears uncontracted. It triggers lenition of a following consonant other than d, s, or t.

Related terms

Irish preposition contractions

	contracted with							copular forms
base form	an (“the sg”)	na (“the pl”)	mo (“my”)	do (“your”)	a (“his, her, their; which (present)”)	ár (“our”)	ar (“which (past)”)	before a consonant	before a vowel
									present/future	past/conditional
de (“from”)	den	de na desna*	de mo dem*	de do ded*, det*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
do (“to, for”)	don	do na dosna*	do mo dom*	do do dod*, dot*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
faoi (“under, about”)	faoin	faoi na	faoi mo	faoi do	faoina	faoinár	faoinar		faoinarb	faoinarbh
i (“in”)	sa, san	sna	i mo im*	i do id*, it*	ina	inár	inar		inarb	inarbh
le (“with”)	leis an	leis na	le mo lem*	le do led*, let*	lena	lenár	lenar		lenarb	lenarbh
ó (“from, since”)	ón	ó na ósna*	ó mo óm*	ó do ód*, ót*	óna	ónár	ónar		ónarb	ónarbh
trí (“through”)	tríd an	trí na	trí mo	trí do	trína	trínár	trínar		trínarb	trínarbh

*dialectal

Japanese

Romanization

den

1. Rōmaji transcription of でん

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /den/, [dən]

Determiner

den m

1. unstressed form of deen

Declension

Luxembourgish definite articles

	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nom./acc.	deen (den)	déi (d')	dat (d')	déi (d')
dative	deem (dem)	där (der)	deem (dem)	deen (den)
genitive		der

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /den/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /dɪn/
• Rhymes: -den, -en

Pronoun

den (Jawi spelling دين)

1. I, me, my

See also

• aku
• saya

Malay personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person	standard	saya / ساي aku / اکو, ku- / كوـ (informal/towards God) -ku / ـكو (poetic possessive) hamba / همبا (dated) daku / داکو (poetic)	kami / کامي (exclusive) kita orang / كيت اورڠ (informal exclusive) kita / کيت (inclusive)
	royal	beta / بيتا
2nd person	standard	kamu / کامو
		engkau / اڠکاو, kau- / كاوـ (informal/poetic/towards God) kau / كاو (informal) awak / اوق (friendly/older towards younger) anda / اندا (formal) awda / اءودا (Brunei, formal) -mu / ـمو (poetic possessive) dikau / ديکاو (poetic)	anda semua / اندا سموا (formal) awak semua / اوق سموا kamu semua / كامو سموا kalian / کالين (archaic) kau orang / كاو اورڠ (informal)
	royal	tuanku / توانكو
3rd person	standard	dia / دي ia / اي beliau / بلياو (honorific) -nya / ـڽ (possessive)	mereka / مريک dia orang / دي اورڠ (informal)
	royal	baginda / بݢيندا

Mandarin

Romanization

den

1. nonstandard spelling of dēn
2. nonstandard spelling of dèn

Usage notes

• 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.

Messapic

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ghen. Related to Proto-Albanian *džana (“voice”) and Albanian zë (“voice”).

Noun

den

1. voice

Middle Dutch

Article

den

1. inflection of die:
   1. masculine accusative/dative singular
   2. neuter dative singular
   3. dative plural

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English denn, from Proto-West Germanic *dani. Forms with a final vowel are probably generalised datives.

Alternative forms

• denne

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛn/, /ˈdɛn(ə)/

Noun

den (plural dennes)

1. A cave or cavern.
2. A chamber of residence:
   1. A den (animal lair)
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[6], published c. 1410, Matheu 8:20, folio 3, verso, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        and iheſus ſeide to him / foxis han dennes ⁊ bꝛiddis of heuene han neeſtis.· but mannes ſone haþ not where he ſchal reſte his heed

        But Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and the birds up above have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere he can rest his head."

   2. A refuge; a shelter.
3. A catacomb (subterranean grave)
4. (anatomy) A cavity; a division.

Descendants

• English: den
• Scots: den

References

• “den, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman deen and continental Old French deien, from Latin decānus.

Alternative forms

• deen, deene, dene, deyne, doien, dyen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛːn/

Noun

den (plural denes)

1. A dean (ecclesiastical official)
2. A leader of a group of ten.
3. An officer of a guild.
4. (rare, by extension) A leader of a group.

Descendants

• English: dean

References

• “dēn, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

den

1. alternative form of dene

Etymology 4

Noun

den

1. alternative form of deyne

Etymology 5

Noun

den

1. (West Midland) alternative form of dyne

Minangkabau

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛn/
• Rhymes: -en

Pronoun

den

1. I, me, my; first person singular (informal use; in dialogue with the same age person or with those who are younger)

See also

• ambo
• awak

Mokilese

Noun

den

1. behavior

Inflection

Possessive forms of den (tight inalienable possession, -i stem)

singular possessor	first person		dinihoa
	second person		dinimwen
	third person		dinin
dual possessors	first person inclusive		dinisa
	first person exclusive		dinima
	second person		dinimwa
	third person		dinira
plural possessors	first person inclusive		dinisai
	first person exclusive		dinimai
	second person		dinimwai
	third person		dinirai
remote plural possessors	first person inclusive		dinihs
	first person exclusive		dinimi
	second person		dinimwi
	third person		dinihr
construct form			dinin

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English then.

Adverb

den

1. then
   • 2025 April 23, Orla Guerin, “More dan 150 pipo injure as earthquakes shake buildings for Turkey Istanbul”, in BBC News Pidgin‎^[7]:

     For now, no immediate reports of casualties or wider damage, but Istanbul officials say dem dey check buildings, den warn pipo to stay clear of potentially-damaged sites.

     For now, there are no immediate reports of casualties or wider damage, but Istanbul officials say they are checking buildings, then warning people to stay clear of potentially damaged sites.

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (stressed) /ˈdɛn/, (unstressed) /dən/

Pronoun

den (genitive dens)

1. it; third person singular, masculine/feminine gender. Nominative, accusative or dative.

Pronoun

den m or f

1. (demonstrative pronoun) that

Article

den m or f

1. The; only used if there is an adjective in front of the noun.

   bilen: the car → den røde bilen: the red car

Related terms

• det
• de
• dem

Anagrams

• end, ned

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse þann, þenn, masculine accusative singular of sá, from Proto-Germanic *sa, from Proto-Indo-European *só.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnː/

Determiner

den m or f (neuter singular det, plural dei)

1. (demonstrative determiner) that

   Eg vil ha den bilen.

   I want that car.

Derived terms

• den og den

Article

den m or f (neuter singular det, plural dei)

1. the; only used if there is an adjective or numeral to the noun

   Han køyrde den raude bilen.

   He drove the red car.

Usage notes

• Usually put preceding the noun. In some rare cases of poetry, the article may come after the noun.
• The noun is nearly always in its definite form. Exceptions include fixed expressions and poetry. Attributive adjectives are always in their definite forms.
• May be omitted when used with the determiner same, used with an ordinal number, or an adjective denotes an inherent or natural attribute of the thing. Omission occurs more frequently, colloquially, in certain dialects.

  same tingen ― [the] same thing

  fyrste kvelden ― [the] first night

  svarte natta ― [the] dark night

Declension

Norwegian Nynorsk demonstrative pronouns

singular	masculine / feminine		neuter
nominative-accusative	den, denn / dann1		det, dat1
dative3	deim		di
plural	masculine / feminine / neuter
nominative	dei
accusative	dei, deim2
dative3	deim
genitive	deira, deires3

¹: Landsmål. ²: Unofficial today. ³: Rare or dialectal. ⁴: Obsolete.

Derived terms

• den dag
• den eldre
• den enkelte
• den gong
• den siste til å
• den vonde
• den yngre

Pronoun

den

1. (demonstrative pronoun) that one

   Eg vil ha den.

   I want that one.

References

• “den” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “den”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016
• “den” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dьnь.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈdɛn/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈdɛn/

Noun

den m inan (diminutive dnek)

1. day; daytime (period between sunrise and sundown)
2. day (24 hour period)
3. (often in the plural) day (unspecified period, particularly in the past)
4. (in the plural) days (life)
5. (religion) day; holiday
6. (religion) day; doomsday

Declension

Declension of den (n-stem reducible)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	den	dny	dni, dnové
genitive	dne	dnú	dnóv
dative	dni	dnoma	dnóm
accusative	den	dny	dny
vocative	dni	dny	dni, dnové
locative	dni	dnú	dniech
instrumental	dnem	dnoma	dny

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.

Descendants

• Czech: den

References

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “den”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese dentro and Spanish dentro and Kabuverdianu dentu.

Preposition

den

1. in
2. inside
3. below

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German den.

Article

den m (definite)

1. accusative masculine singular of der (“the”)

Declension

	singular				plural
	m	f	n
nominative	der	die	es		die
dative	dem, em	der	dem, em		de
accusative	der, den	die	es		die

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Syllabification: den

Noun

den n

1. genitive plural of dno

Pumpokol

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *den (“female nipple”). Perhaps related to Xiongnu 湩 (*toːŋs /⁠*dung⁠/, “milk”).

Noun

den (M., W., VW., Kl.)

1. (anatomy) milk

Further reading

• Werner, Heinrich (2005), Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 180

Russenorsk

Alternative forms

• dein, денъ (den)

Etymology

Inherited from Norwegian Nynorsk den or its northern dialectal palatalized form.

Pronunciation

Unknown. Possible examples:

• IPA^(key): /dɛnː/ (Norwegian accent)
• IPA^(key): /dɛɲː/ (palatalized, Northen Norwegian, attested as dein)

The attested Cyrillic spelling денъ indicates no palatalization. The letter "е" in non-Russian words may have two different ways of pronunciation (as /je/ or /e/). The variant closest to Norwegian pronunciation would be /e/:

• IPA^(key): [den], /dɛn/

Pronoun

den

1. this, that

Usage notes

The pronoun has no conjugated forms, in difference from Norwegian, which conjugates this pronoun after gender and number (e. g. det), which are absent in Russenorsk.

Synonyms

• etta

Derived terms

• den dag

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈden/ [ˈd̪ẽn]
• Rhymes: -en
• Syllabification: den

Verb

den

1. inflection of dar:
   1. third-person plural present subjunctive
   2. third-person plural imperative

Sranan Tongo

Alternative forms

• dem (archaic)

Etymology

From English them.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /den/

Pronoun

den

1. they
2. them

Determiner

den

1. their (possessive pronoun)

Article

den

1. the (plural definite article)

Swedish

Alternative forms

• then, dhen (obsolete)
• ren (colloquial, pronunciation spelling)

Etymology

From Old Swedish þæn, accusative of sā(r), from Old Norse sá, from Proto-Germanic *sa, from Proto-Indo-European *só.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /rɛnː/ (unstressed, informal)

Pronoun

den c

1. it (for common gender nouns)

   Jag ser Nisses bil. Den är röd.

   I see Nisse's car. It is red.

   Jag har tappat bort min nyckel. Har du sett den?

   I have lost my key. Have you seen it?

   Skalbaggen är mycket hungrig. Mata den varje timme.

   The beetle is very hungry. Feed it every hour.

   Mata'ren varje timme [Common unstressed pronunciation variant – see IPA. /rɛnː/ is especially common in some dialects.]

   Feed it every hour

   Ge'ren till Nisse [Common unstressed pronunciation variant]

   Give it to Nisse

   Seruren? ["Ser du den?" – common unstressed pronunciation variant]

   Do you see it?

2. that (for common gender nouns)

   Den bilen är röd, men bilen där borta är grön

   That car is red, but the car over there is green

   1. the one, that one (for common gender nouns)

      Den stora bilen – den som Margit äger – är gul

      The big car – the one that Margit owns – is yellow

      – Vilken glass tog du? – Jag tog den med marshmallows.

      – Which ice cream did you have [take]? – I had [took] the one with marshmallows.

      – Vilken bil tycker du är finast? – Den (där)! *Pekar*

      – Which car do you think is the prettiest? – That one (there)! *Points* ["Där" (there) is optional, and could also be "här" (here) for example, for a nearby object, like in English]

3. he, she, whoever, "the one"

   Den som lever får se

   Time will tell ("He who lives will (gets to) see" – idiomatic)

   Den som gräver en grop åt andra faller ofta själv däri

   He who digs a pit for others often falls himself therein (proverb based on the Bible – idiomatically old-fashioned language in Swedish as well)

Declension

Swedish personal pronouns

Number	Person		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, though it remains limited.

²Informal

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

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

Article

den c (definite)

1. the (when an adjective is used with a common gender noun in the definite – det is used for neuter gender nouns, and de for plural nouns, regardless of gender)

   en bil ― a car

   bilen ― the car

   en röd bil ― a red car

   den röda bilen ― the red car

   röda bilar ― red cars (for comparison – note that "röd" has the same inflection in the definite and plural)

   bilen den röda ― the red car (rare, poetic – intuitively, "the car, the red one" / "the car the red")

   • 1971, Evert Taube, “Änglamark”, in Äppelkriget:

     Kalla den Änglamarken eller Himlajorden om du vill. Jorden vi ärvde och lunden den gröna.

     Call it the Angel Ground or the Heaven Earth if you like. The Earth we inherited and the green grove

     (literally, “the grove the green”)

   1. the ... one (when the noun is implied, which is an idiomatic construction)

      – Vilken tröja vill du ha? – Den blå.

      – Which shirt do you want? – The blue one.

      – Vilken glass vill du ha? – Den största.

      – Which ice cream do you want? – The biggest (one).

Usage notes

"The [adjective] [noun]" is expressed as "den/det/de (common gender, neuter gender, and plural, respectively) [adjective inflected for definite] [noun inflected for definite]." For example, "smaskig" (yummy) and "hamburgare" (hamburger – common gender) turns into "den smaskiga hamburgaren" (the yummy-definite hamburger-definite), "röd" (red) and "hus" (house – neuter gender) turns into "det röda huset" (the red-definite house-definite), and "snabb" (fast) and "bilar" (cars) turns into "de snabba bilarna" (the fast-definite cars-definite). "Den/det/de" is not optional, except often being left out in proper nouns and other lexicalized noun phrases with an adjective that are in the definite (giving "smaskiga hamburgaren" something of a "pub name" feel) – see de for examples.

The definite form of an adjective is identical to the plural form except optionally having "-e" instead of "-a" in the singular for nouns whose natural gender is masculine. For example, "lång" (tall) and "man" (man) turns into either "den långe mannen" or "den långa mannen," while "lång" (tall) and "kvinna" (woman) can only be expressed as "den långa kvinnan." Present participles – like in "den sjungande kvinnan" (the singing woman) and "de simmande fiskarna" (the swimming fishes) – do not inflect, and stay the same in indefinite, definite, singular, and plural noun phrases.

The construction above is called "double definiteness," since it can be considered redundant. It also occurs in Norwegian and Faroese, but not in Danish, where "the red house" is "det røde hus."

Related terms

• det
• det här
• det där
• den här
• den där
• dessa
• de
• dem

References

• den in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• den in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• den in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• ned

Zhuang

Etymology

From Mandarin 電／电 (diàn).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /teːn˧˥/
• Tone numbers: den⁵
• Hyphenation: den

Noun

den (1957–1982 spelling den)

1. electricity