jennet

English

Alternative forms

• genet, ginnet, gennet, jinnet

Etymology

From Late Middle English genet, from Old French genet, from Old Catalan genet or Old Spanish ginete (“small fast horse; light horseman”), from Andalusian Arabic زَنَاتِي (zanātī), the Zenati or Zenata Berbers, known as excellent horse breeders. Doublet of Zenati.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛnɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnɪt
• Homophone: genet

Noun

jennet (plural jennets)

1. A female ass or donkey; a jenny.
2. A small Spanish horse.
   • 2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 230:

     Richmondʼs black jennet [...] is a gleaming and well-muscled creature of Spanish breed.

Derived terms

• act the jennet

Translations

jenny — see jenny

small Spanish horse

• Irish: capaillín Spáinneach m

Further reading

• “jennet”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “jennet”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.