different between chicks vs hen

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??ks/

Noun

chicks

1. plural of chick

Verb

chicks

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of chick

Anagrams

• Schick

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h?n/
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English hen, from Old English henn (“hen”), from Proto-Germanic *hanj? (“hen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kan-, *kana- (“to sing”).

Cognate with Dutch hen (“hen”), West Frisian hin (“hen”), German Low German Heen (“hen”), German Henne (“hen”), Icelandic hæna (“hen”), Danish høne (“hen”), Swedish höna (“hen”). Related also to Old English hana (“cock, rooster”).

Alternative forms

• henne (obsolete)

Noun

hen (plural hens)

1. A female chicken (Gallus gallus), particularly a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.

   Coordinate term: cock

2. A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.

   Coordinate term: cock

3. (uncommon) A female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.

   Synonym: henfish

   Coordinate terms: cock, cockfish

4. (figuratively, derogatory) A woman, particularly
   • 1785, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue:

     Hen, a woman. A cock and hen club; a club composed of men and women.

   1. (Britain, informal) A bride-to-be, particularly in the context of her "hen night" festivities.
5. (Britain, informal) A hen night.
6. (Scotland, informal) An affectionate term of address used to women or girls.

   Don't cry, hen. Everything will be all right.

7. (figuratively, derogatory, uncommon) A henlike person of either sex.
8. The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a bivalve shellfish.

Synonyms

• (female bird): hen-bird
• (bride-to-be): (US) bachelorette
• (M. mercenaria): hard clam, hen-clam, hen-fish

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

hen (third-person singular simple present hens, present participle henning, simple past and past participle henned)

1. Alternative form of mother-hen

See also

• broody

Etymology 2

From Middle English henne, heonne, hinne, from earlier henene, heonenen, henen, from Old English heonan, hionan, heonane, heonone (“hence, from here, away, from how”), from Proto-Germanic *hina, *hinan? (“from here”), from Proto-Indo-European *?e-, *?ey- (“this, here”). Cognate with Dutch heen (“away”), German hin (“hence, from here”), Danish hen (“away, further, on”). See also hence.

Adverb

hen (not comparable)

1. (dialectal) Hence.

Etymology 3

From hen (“hence, away”), or a variant of hench.

Verb

hen (third-person singular simple present hens, present participle henning, simple past and past participle henned)

1. (dialectal) To throw.

Anagrams

• NHE, Neh.

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *hen, from Proto-Celtic *senos, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

Adjective

hen

1. old, ancient

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• haban, håm

Etymology

From Middle High German haben, from Old High German h?ben, from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjan? (“to have; to hold”). Cognate with German haben, English have.

Verb

hen (irregular, auxiliary hen)

1. (Tredici Comuni) to have

References

• “hen” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German hen, related to Swedish hän, English hence, and German hin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?h?n], [?h?n?]
• Rhymes: -?n

Adverb

hen

1. Used with a verb, indicating a movement towards or to something.

   Gå hen til din far.

   Go to your father.

   Hestene går hen imod mig.

   The horses are walking towards me.

Usage notes

Contrast with henne; where hen indicates movement, henne indicates position. Thus hvor løber han henne? means "where is he running?", whereas hvor løber han hen? means "to where is he running?".

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n/
• Hyphenation: hen
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch hin, from Proto-Germanic *himaz.

Pronoun

hen (personal)

1. them (object pronoun)

Usage notes

See the usage note at hun for details on use.

Inflection

Related terms

• hun

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch henne, from Old Dutch *henna, from Proto-Germanic *hanj?, from Proto-Indo-European *keh?n- (“to sing”).

Noun

hen f (plural hennen, diminutive hennetje n, masculine haan)

1. hen, female chicken; female of a related species.
2. A female of the species of birds brooding on the ground.
3. (figuratively) 'bird', colloquial term for a human female

Synonyms

• (female chicken) kip, kieken
• (brooding bird) kloek
• (female human; informal) kippetje, duifje

Related terms

• haan m (rooster)
• hoen, hoender n (fowl)

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronoun

hen (possessive hun)

1. (gender-neutral, nonstandard) they (singular) (subject pronoun). A gender-neutral singular third-person personal pronoun.
2. (gender-neutral, nonstandard) them (singular) (object pronoun). A gender-neutral singular third-person personal pronoun.

Finnish

Noun

hen

1. Genitive singular form of he.

Japanese

Romanization

hen

1. R?maji transcription of ??

Mandarin

Romanization

hen

1. Nonstandard spelling of h?n.
2. Nonstandard spelling of hén.
3. Nonstandard spelling of h?n.
4. Nonstandard spelling of hèn.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• henne, hene, han, en, heene

Etymology

From Old English henn, from Proto-Germanic *hanj?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h?n/
• Rhymes: -?n

Noun

hen (plural hennes or hennen, genitive hennes or henne)

1. hen, chicken
2. female bird

Descendants

• English: hen
• Scots: hen
• Yola: hen, hin

References

• “hen, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-03.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /x?n/

Adverb

hen (not comparable)

1. far away

Further reading

• hen in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• hen in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scots

Noun

hen (uncountable)

1. Term of address for a woman.

   Alright Mary hen?

Swedish

Etymology 1

Created as an alternative to hon (“she”) and han (“he”). The coining of the word has probably been influenced by the Finnish hän, a personal pronoun used about human beings and which does not specify gender (Finnish lacks grammatical gender entirely). Hen was suggested as early as 1966 by linguist Rolf Dunås in Swedish regional newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning and was proposed again in a 1994 article by linguist Hans Karlgren, but did not receive widespread attention until around 2010.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h?n/
• Rhymes: -?n

Pronoun

hen (third person singular gender-neutral personal pronoun, oblique hen or henom, possessive hens)

1. (neologism) A third-person singular pronoun of unspecified gender; they, thon; alternative to hon (“she”) and han (“he”).

Usage notes

• Since around 2010 hen has seen increased usage, though it has not entered everyday language either in spoken or written form. It has been especially popular among activists for gender equality and adherents of queer theory, and with the transgender community. Publishers of manuals of style and the Swedish Language Council do not proscribe the usage of hen, but recommend the inflected forms hens as the possessive and hen over henom as the object.

See also

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hein, from Proto-Germanic *hain?.

Related to Norwegian and Icelandic hein (“whetstone”), Old English h?n (“stone, rock”) and modern English hone. Further related to Sanskrit ??? (???a) and Latin c?s with the same meaning. See also (dialectal) Swedish hena (“to hone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /he?n/

Noun

hen c

1. (archaic, dialectal) a whetstone, particularly the small and soft kind.

Declension

Synonyms

• bryne n
• brynsten c

Related terms

• slipsten c (“grindstone”)

References

Veps

Etymology

Related to Finnish hieno.

Adjective

hen

1. fine
2. refined, elegant

Inflection

Derived terms

• henota

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007) , “??????????, ??????, ??????, ??????????”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovar? [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Mon-Khmer *hi?n (“asthma”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [h?n??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [h????]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [h????]

Noun

hen

1. (medicine) asthma

Derived terms

Verb

hen

1. (North Central Vietnam) to cough

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *hen, from Proto-Celtic *senos, from Proto-Indo-European *sénos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /he?n/

Adjective

hen (feminine singular hen, plural henion, equative hyned, comparative h?n or hynach or henach, superlative hynaf or henaf, not mutable)

1. old, aged; ancient, antique, pristine, former; inveterate, chronic; original; senior, elder
2. stale, mouldy, musty, fusty
3. unreformed, old, traditional (of style or mode of expressing dates according to the Julian Calendar); reckoned according to the Old Style (of festival)

Usage notes

• This adjective has an alternate, more “senior” comparative in the form of h?n and an equivalent alternate superlative in the form of hynaf.
• Unlike most Welsh adjectives, this word goes before the noun.
• Like most Welsh adjectives that go before the noun, this word triggers a soft mutation in the word that follows it.

Derived terms

Yola

Alternative forms

• hin

Etymology

From Middle English hen, from Old English hen, from Proto-West Germanic *hannju.

Noun

hen (plural henès)

1. hen

Antonyms

• cuck

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN