fen

¹ American  

[fen] / fɛn /

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 American  

[fen] / fɛn /

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 British  

/ fɛn /

noun

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

---

fen ² British  

/ fɛn /

noun

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

---

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

Then, one day, he struck fen skating gold.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2023

The Sacketts’ property was connected to a fen and, thence, to the lake, via a “shallow subsurface flow” of moisture, the agency advised, making it subject to the 1972 Clean Water Act.

From Washington Post • Oct. 5, 2022

She found, about 15 inches underground, partially decayed roots, twigs and the cold moisture of a fen.

From Washington Times • Sep. 13, 2020

She keeps her world of the fen people half-hidden from him, although she explains how they “call upon the water” to form islands without digging or creating dikes or walls.

From New York Times • Sep. 17, 2019

‘But he shall not turn us back! Halt we must once more; for, see! even the Moon is falling into gathering cloud. But north lies our road between down and fen when day returns.’

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien