hen

[ hen ]

/ hɛn /

noun

the female of the domestic fowl.

the female of any bird, especially of a gallinaceous bird.

Informal. an unpleasant, usually older woman, especially one considered to be a busybody or gossip.

Nearby words

hempseed, hempstead, hempy, hems, hemstitch, hen, hen fruit, hen harrier, hen hawk, hen night, hen of the woods

Origin of hen

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hen(n) (compare Old English hana cock); cognate with German Henne; akin to Latin canere to sing

Related formshen·like, adjectivehen·nish, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hens

What he loved to do was count the number of eggs his hens laid.
Orwell’s Lies: His Diaries Reveal Problems with the Truth|Jimmy So|August 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
As Foer writes in Eating Animals, “I could keep a flock of hens under my sink and call them free-range.”
9 Reasons to Beware Eggs|The Daily Beast|August 20, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The UNFPA is moving toward smaller incentives, like hens, for cost reasons.
Girls Fight Back Against Child Marriage|Liz Goodwin|December 2, 2009|DAILY BEAST
By October 20 many of the nests were complete, and the hens sat in them, though no eggs were to be seen yet.
Antarctic Penguins|George Murray Levick

He then sits to hatch them, while the hens feed round at liberty.
The Western World|W.H.G. Kingston
If you are forced to give your hens or chickens meal, you must sift it fine and scald it and cool it.
A Complete Edition of the Works of Nancy Luce|Nancy Luce
The hens went silently about, and roosters crowed in psalm-tunes.
Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol 4|Charles Dudley Warner
And Boxer barked, and the hens cackled, and the guinea-fowls cried "Come back, come back!"
The Adventures of A Brownie|Miss Mulock

British Dictionary definitions for hens

hen

/ (hɛn) /

noun

the female of any bird, esp the adult female of the domestic fowl

the female of certain other animals, such as the lobster

informal a woman regarded as gossipy or foolish

Scot dialect a term of address (often affectionate), used to women and girls

scarce as hen's teeth extremely rare

Word Origin for hen

Old English henn; related to Old High German henna, Old Frisian henne

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hens

hen

Old English henn, from West Germanic *khannjo (cf. Old Frisian henn, Middle Dutch henne, Old High German henna), fem. of *han(e)ni "male fowl, cock" (cf. Old English hana "cock"), literally "bird who sings (for sunrise)," from PIE root *kan- "to sing" (see chant).

The original masculine word survives in German (Hahn "cock"), Swedish, Danish, etc.; extension to "female of any bird species" is early 14c. in English. Hen as slang for "woman" dates from 1620s; hence hen party "gathering of women," first recorded 1887. To be mad as a wet hen is from 1823, but the figure was used to indicate other states:

Some, on the contrary, are viciously opposite to these, who act so tamely and so coldly, that when they ought to be angry, to thunder and lighten, as one may say, they are no fuller of Heat, than a wet Hen, as the Saying is; .... ["Life of Mr. Thomas Betterton," London, 1710]

Orth. Out upon you for a dastardly Fellow; you han't the Courage of a wet Hen. ["A Sermon Preached at St. Mary-le-Bow, March 27, 1704"]

As wanton as a wet hen is in "Scots Proverbs" (1813). Among Middle English proverbial expressions was nice as a nonne hen "over-refined, fastidiously wanton" (c.1500); to singen so hen in snowe "sing miserably," literally "sing like a hen in snow" (c.1200). Hen's teeth as a figure of scarceness is attested by 1838.

Idioms and Phrases with hens

hen

see mad as a hornet (wet hen); scarce as hen's teeth.

hen

noun

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Origin of hen

Examples from the Web for hens

British Dictionary definitions for hens

hen

noun

Word Origin for hen

Word Origin and History for hens

hen

Idioms and Phrases with hens

hen