Houyhnhnm

[ hoo-in-uh m, hwin-uh m, win- ]

/ huˈɪn əm, ˈʰwɪn əm, ˈwɪn- /

noun

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

Origin of Houyhnhnm

1726; apparently echoic; cf. whinny

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

Examples from the Web for houyhnhnm

Imagine yourself reading a number of the Houyhnhnm Gazette, giving an account of such an experiment.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table|Oliver Wendell Holmes
The Houyhnhnm's legs are very well; the horse slipped on his side and not on his knees, and has received no sort of injury.
The Newcomes|William Makepeace Thackeray
The pony travelled like a glorified Houyhnhnm and we have brought a second male servant to take care of him.
The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II|Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Amid the inextinguishable horse-laughter (sincere but vacant) of the Houyhnhnm Olympus.
History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Volume V. (of XXI.)|Thomas Carlyle

Houyhnhnm, whin′im, n. one of the noble rational horse race in Gulliver's Travels.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)|Various

Word Origin and History for houyhnhnm

Houyhnhnm

1727, in "Gulliver's Travels," coined by Swift to suggest whinnying.