fen

¹

[ fen ]

noun

1. low land covered wholly or partially with water; boggy land; a marsh.
2. the Fens, a marshy region W and S of The Wash, in E England.

fen

²

[ fen ]

noun

, plural fen.

1. an aluminum coin and monetary unit of the People's Republic of China, the hundredth part of a yuan or the tenth part of a jiao.

fen

¹

/ fɛn /

noun

1. low-lying flat land that is marshy or artificially drained

fen

²

/ fɛn /

noun

1. a monetary unit of the People's Republic of China, worth one hundredth of a yuan

Word History and Origins

Origin of fen¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Norse fen quagmire, Gothic fani mud, Dutch ven, German Fenn fen, bog

Origin of fen²

First recorded in 1905–10, fen is from the Chinese word fēn

Word History and Origins

Origin of fen¹

Old English fenn ; related to Old High German fenna , Old Norse fen , Gothic fani clay, Sanskrit panka mud

Origin of fen²

from Mandarin Chinese

Example Sentences

The Daily Pic: Chun Kai Fen gives a nod to the projects where Singaporeans live.

From The Daily Beast

Last year a seven-mile-long park opened on the banks of the River Fen, which flows through Linfen.

From The Daily Beast

The fen country faintly reminds one of Holland, lying low and dotted here and there with huge windmills.

From Project Gutenberg

It is a remarkable ruin, rising out of the flat fen country, as someone has said, "like a light-house out of the sea."

From Project Gutenberg

Crowland is a gray, lonely little town in the midst of the wide fen country.

From Project Gutenberg

The season had been unusually dry and favorable to the fen land, as this section is called.

From Project Gutenberg

Shortly after, we left the hills and found ourselves again in the fen country.

From Project Gutenberg