fen

See also: fēn, fén, fěn, and fèn

English

Schematic illustration of a fen

Etymology 1

From Middle English fen, fenne, from Old English fenn (“fen; marsh; mud; dirt”), from Proto-Germanic *fanją (compare West Frisian fean, Dutch veen, German Fenn, Norwegian fen), from Proto-Indo-European *pen- (“bog, mire”). Compare Middle Irish en (“water”), enach (“swamp”), Old Prussian pannean (“peat-bog”), Sanskrit पङ्क (paṅka, “marsh, mud, mire, slough”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): fɛn
• Rhymes: -ɛn

Noun

fen (plural fens)

1. A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline.
   • 1807, William Wordsworth, "England, 1802," collected in Poems (1807):

     Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:

     England hath need of thee: she is a fen

     Of stagnant waters […]

   • 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Slave in the Dismal Swamp, from Poems on Slavery

     In dark fens of the Dismal Swamp / The hunted Negro lay; [...]

   • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:

     He was freezing to death in the flat mud of the Suffolk fens, too proud to go home without a catch.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• fenberry
• fen cricket
• fen fire

• fenland
• fenlike
• fenman

• fen nettle
• fennish
• fennish

• fenny
• fenwoman
• Silicon Fen

Translations

type of wetland

• Bulgarian: мочурище n (močurište)
• Czech: bažina (cs) f, močál m
• Estonian: madalsoo
• Finnish: letto (fi)
• Japanese: フェン (fen)
• Persian: لشاب‎‎ (fa) (lešâb)

• Russian: боло́то (ru) n (bolóto)
• Scottish Gaelic: boglach f
• Slovene: barje n
• Tagalog: tunlak, tanlak, tarlak

See also

• bog
• everglade
• marsh
• swamp
• wetland

Etymology 2

Noun

fen (plural fens)

1. unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan

Translations

unit of Chinese currency

• Czech: fen (cs) m

Etymology 3

From fan, by analogy with men as the plural of man.

Noun

fen pl (normally plural, singular fan)

1. (dated, fandom slang) fans; a plural form used by enthusiasts of science fiction, fantasy, and anime, partly from whimsy and partly to distinguish themselves from fans of sport, etc.
   • 1951 May 21, Sargeant, Winthrop, “Through the Interstellar Looking Glass”, in Life‎^[1], volume 30, number 21, page 127:

     Sad to relate, some of the European delegates were probably insurgents rather than true fen. […] But the Europeans could be counted on to take the long view, and many of them would probably turn out to be real fen and fenne after all.

   • 2016 September 3, lurkertype, “Worldcon 75 Chair Responds”, in File 770‎^[2], Comments:

     So I’m glad the attached hotel block is entirely reserved for disabled fen! Traveling on mass transit is tiring even when everything’s up to code.

Coordinate terms

• fenne

Derived terms

Derived terms

• actifen
• confen
• eofen
• fakefen
• femme fen
• femfen
• femmefen

• fringefen
• litfen
• mediafen
• neofen
• passifen
• stfen
• trufan
• zinefen

Etymology 4

Compare fend.

Interjection

fen

1. (obsolete) Used in children's games to prevent or forestall another player's action; a check or bar.

Anagrams

• nef

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Catalan

Verb

fen

1. third-person singular present indicative form of fendre
2. second-person singular imperative form of fendre

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Chuukese

Adjective

fen

1. holy

Synonyms

• pin

Adverb

fen

1. past tense marker for verbs
2. already

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛn]
• Rhymes: -ɛn

Etymology 1

1. fen (unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan).
   • 1962, Časopis Národního muzea, volume 131, page 165:

     Čínská poštovní správa v roce 1961 vydala ke Dni armády, tj. k 1. srpnu 1961 dvě známky, a to v hodnotách 8 fenů a 10 fenů […]

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	fen	feny
genitive	fenu	fenů
dative	fenu	fenům
accusative	fen	feny
vocative	fene	feny
locative	fenu	fenech
instrumental	fenem	feny

Etymology 2

Noun

fen

1. genitive plural of fena

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Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin fine, ablative of finis. Compare Italian fino.

Adjective

fen (feminine faina)

1. fine
2. subtle
3. pure

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Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse fen, from Proto-Germanic *fanją.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /feːn/
• Rhymes: -eːn

Noun

fen n (genitive singular fens, plural fen)

1. bog, quagmire

Declension

Declension of fen
n3	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	fen	fenið	fen	fenini
accusative	fen	fenið	fen	fenini
dative	feni	feninum	fenum	fenunum
genitive	fens	fensins	fena	fenanna

Derived terms

• fenbressa
• fendíki
• fenjutur

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Friulian

Etymology

From Latin faenum, fēnum.

Noun

fen m (plural fens)

1. hay

Related terms

• fenoli

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Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Finno-Ugric *pänɜ (“grindstone; grind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛn]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fen

Verb

fen

1. (transitive) to sharpen

Conjugation

conjugation of fen

Infinitive			fenni
Past participle			fent
Present participle			fenő
Future participle			fenendő
Adverbial participle			fenve
Potential			fenhet
			1st person sg	2nd person sg informal	3rd person sg, 2nd person sg formal	1st person pl	2nd person pl informal	3rd person pl, 2nd person pl formal
Indicative mood	Present	Indefinite	fenek	fensz	fen	fenünk	fentek	fennek
		Definite	fenem én téged/titeket fenlek	fened	feni	fenjük	fenitek	fenik
	Past	Indefinite	fentem	fentél	fent	fentünk	fentetek	fentek
		Definite	fentem én téged/titeket fentelek	fented	fente	fentük	fentétek	fenték
Conditional mood	Present	Indefinite	fennék	fennél	fenne	fennénk	fennétek	fennének
		Definite	fenném én téged/titeket fennélek	fennéd	fenné	fennénk	fennétek	fennék
Subjunctive mood	Present	Indefinite	fenjek	fenj or fenjél	fenjen	fenjünk	fenjetek	fenjenek
		Definite	fenjem én téged/titeket fenjelek	fend or fenjed	fenje	fenjük	fenjétek	fenjék
Conjugated infinitive			fennem	fenned	fennie	fennünk	fennetek	fenniük

Derived terms

• fenyeget

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Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse fen, from Proto-Germanic *fanją.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛːn/
• Rhymes: -ɛːn

Noun

fen n (genitive singular fens, nominative plural fen)

1. fen, marsh, morass

Declension

declension of fen

n-s	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	fen	fenið	fen	fenin
accusative	fen	fenið	fen	fenin
dative	feni	feninu	fenum	fenunum
genitive	fens	fensins	fena	fenanna

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Istriot

Etymology

From Latin faenum, fēnum.

Noun

fen

1. hay

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Mandarin

Romanization

fen

1. Nonstandard spelling of fēn.
2. Nonstandard spelling of fén.
3. Nonstandard spelling of fěn.
4. Nonstandard spelling of fèn.

Usage notes

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

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Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fanją.

Noun

fen n (genitive fens, plural fen)

1. bog, quagmire

   mýrar ok fen

Declension

  Declension of fen (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	fen	fenit	fen	fenin
accusative	fen	fenit	fen	fenin
dative	feni	feninu	fenum	fenunum
genitive	fens	fensins	fena	fenanna

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Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Föhn.

Noun

fȇn m (Cyrillic spelling фе̑н)

1. hair dryer
2. (meteorology) foehn

Declension

Declension of fen

	singular	plural
nominative	fen	fenovi
genitive	fena	fenova
dative	fenu	fenovima
accusative	fen	fenove
vocative	fene	fenovi
locative	fenu	fenovima
instrumental	fenom	fenovima

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Swedish

Noun

fen

1. definite singular of fe

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Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic فَنّ‎ (fann).

Noun

fen (definite accusative fenni, plural fenler)

1. science

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	fen
Definite accusative	fenni
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fen	fenler
Definite accusative	fenni	fenleri
Dative	fenne	fenlere
Locative	fende	fenlerde
Ablative	fenden	fenlerden
Genitive	fennin	fenlerin

Synonyms

• ilim
• bilim