Houyhnhnm

American  

[hoo-in-uhm, hwin-uhm, win-] / huˈɪn əm, ˈʰwɪn əm, ˈwɪn- /

noun

1. (in Swift'sGulliver's Travels ) one of a race of horses endowed with reason, who rule the Yahoos, a race of degraded, brutish creatures having human form.

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Etymology

Origin of Houyhnhnm

1726; apparently echoic; cf. whinny

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Houyhnhnm

I often attend the Houyhnhnm conversazione at the tank, at about seven o’clock, and am amused by their behaviour; and I continually wish I could see Ned’s face on witnessing many equine proceedings here. 

From Letters from the Cape by Lady Lucie Duff Gordon

Who that has read Dean Swift's disgusting description of the Yahoos, and insipid one of Houyhnhnm with a philosophical eye, can avoid seeing the futility of degrading the passions, or making man rest in contentment?

From Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

Imagine yourself reading a number of the Houyhnhnm Gazette, giving an account of such an experiment.

From Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works by Oliver Wendell Holmes

The author conducted by a Houyhnhnm to his house. 

From Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

To thee, we wretches of the Houyhnhnm band, Condemn'd to labour in a barbarous land, Return our thanks.

From The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 2 by George Gilfillan