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

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 Wollstonecraft, Mary

There are more than four hundred horses in His Highness's city stables alone; and where the Houyhnhnm is, there also will be the Yahoo.

From From Sea to Sea Letters of Travel by Kipling, Rudyard

Accept our humble lays, And let each grateful Houyhnhnm neigh thy praise.

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

And then Miss Gittens came bumping by on the grey, and, before I could interfere, my Houyhnhnm was off like a shot in pursuit.

From The Talking Horse And Other Tales by Anstey, F.

He was sure no Houyhnhnm alive could make such a vessel, nor would trust Yahoos to manage it.”

From Gulliver's Travels by Swift, Jonathan