different between fen vs fend

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?n/
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English fen, fenne, from Old English fenn (“fen; marsh; mud; dirt”), Proto-West Germanic *fani, from Proto-Germanic *fanj? (compare West Frisian fean, Dutch veen, German Fenn, Norwegian fen), from Proto-Indo-European *pen- (“bog, mire”). Compare Middle Irish en (“water”), enach (“swamp”), Old Prussian pannean (“peat-bog”), Sanskrit ???? (pa?ka, “marsh, mud, mire, slough”).

Noun

fen (plural fens)

1. A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline.
   • 1807, William Wordsworth, "England, 1802," collected in Poems (1807):

     Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:

     England hath need of thee: she is a fen

     Of stagnant waters […]

   • 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Slave in the Dismal Swamp, from Poems on Slavery:

     In dark fens of the Dismal Swamp / The hunted Negro lay; [...]

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• bog
• everglade
• marsh
• swamp
• wetland

Etymology 2

Noun

fen (plural fens)

2. A unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan.

Translations

Etymology 3

From fan, by analogy with men as the plural of man.

Noun

fen pl (normally plural, singular fan)

1. (dated, fandom slang) Fans; a plural form used by enthusiasts of science fiction, fantasy, and anime, partly from whimsy and partly to distinguish themselves from fans of sport, etc.

Coordinate terms

• fenne

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Compare fend.

Interjection

fen

1. (obsolete) Used in children's games to prevent or forestall another player's action; a check or bar.

Etymology 5

From Middle English *vene, Kentish variant of *fine, from Old English fyne (“moisture, mold, mildew”), from Proto-Germanic *funiz, *fun- (“moisture, mold”); compare vinew.

Noun

fen (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) A kind of mildew that grows on hops.

Anagrams

• ENF, nef

Catalan

Verb

fen

1. third-person singular present indicative form of fendre
2. second-person singular imperative form of fendre

Chuukese

Adjective

fen

1. holy

Synonyms

• pin

Adverb

fen

1. past tense marker for verbs
2. already

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?f?n]
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

Noun

fen m

1. fen (unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan).

Declension

Etymology 2

Noun

fen

1. genitive plural of fena

Further reading

• fen in Kartotéka Novo?eského lexikálního archivu

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin f?nitus. Compare Italian fino.

Adjective

fen (feminine faina)

1. fine
2. subtle
3. pure

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse fen, from Proto-Germanic *fanj?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fe?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n

Noun

fen n (genitive singular fens, plural fen)

1. bog, quagmire

Declension

Derived terms

• fenbressa
• fendíki
• fenjutur

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin faenum, f?num.

Noun

fen m (plural fens)

1. hay

Related terms

• fenoli

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?f?n]
• Hyphenation: fen
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finno-Ugric *pän? (“grindstone; grind”).

Verb

fen

1. (transitive) to sharpen, to whet, to hone

   Synonyms: köszörül, élesít, élez

2. (dialectal) to rub, to smear

   Synonyms: ken, dörgöl

Conjugation

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

fen (plural fenek)

2. fen (unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan)

Declension

References

Further reading

• (to whet): fen in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse fen, from Proto-Germanic *fanj?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??n/
• Rhymes: -??n

Noun

fen n (genitive singular fens, nominative plural fen)

1. fen, marsh, morass

Declension

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin faenum, f?num.

Noun

fen

1. hay

Mandarin

Romanization

fen

1. Nonstandard spelling of f?n.
2. Nonstandard spelling of fén.
3. Nonstandard spelling of f?n.
4. Nonstandard spelling of fèn.

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

• fenne, ven

Etymology

From Old English fenn; from Proto-Germanic *fanj?. The "dung" sense is influenced by Old French fien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?n/

Noun

fen (plural fennes)

1. fen, bog, swamp
2. dirt, muddiness
3. dung, feces
4. (rare) rubbish, refuse
5. (rare) quagmire, lure

Declension

Descendants

• English: fen
• Scots: fen

References

• “fen, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “fen, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fanj?.

Noun

fen n (genitive fens, plural fen)

1. bog, quagmire

Declension

References

• fen in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Föhn.

Noun

f?n m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. hair dryer
2. (meteorology) foehn

Declension

Swedish

Noun

fen

1. definite singular of fe

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ????? (fann).

Noun

fen (definite accusative fenni, plural fenler)

1. science

Declension

Synonyms

• ilim
• bilim

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd

Etymology 1

From Middle English fenden (“defend, fight, prevent”), shortening of defenden (“defend”), from Old French deffendre (Modern French défendre), from Latin d?fend? (“to ward off”), from d?- +? *fend? (“hit, thrust”), from Proto-Indo-European *g??en- (“strike, kill”).

Verb

fend (third-person singular simple present fends, present participle fending, simple past and past participle fended)

1. (intransitive) To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being.
   • 1990, Messrs Howley and Murphy, quoted in U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor Standards, Oversight hearing on the Federal Service Contract Act,^[2] U.S. Government Printing Office, page 40,

     Mr. Howley. They are telling him how much they will increase the reimbursement for the total labor cost. The contractor is left to fend as he can.

     Chairman Murphy. Obviously, he can’t fend for any more than the money he has coming in.

   • 2003, Scott Turow, Reversible Errors, page 376

     The planet was full of creatures in need, who could not really fend, and the law was at its best when it ensured that they were treated with dignity.

2. (rare, except as "fend for oneself") To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).

   • With fern beneath to fend the bitter cold.

   • 1999, Kuan-chung Lo, Guanzhong Luo, Luo Guanzhong, Moss Roberts, Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel, page 39

     He fends, he blocks, too skillful to be downed.

   • 2002, Jude Deveraux, A Knight in Shining Armor, page 187

     “ […] My age is lot like yours. Lone women do not fare well. If I were not there to fend for you, you—”

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

fend (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Self-support; taking care of one's own well-being.

Etymology 2

From Middle English f?nd, feond, from Old English f?ond (“adversary, foe, enemy, fiend, devil, Satan”), from Proto-Germanic *fijandz, present participle of **fijan?, from Proto-Indo-European *peh?- (“to hate”). More at fiend.

Noun

fend (plural fends)

1. (Britain dialectal) An enemy; fiend; the Devil.

Anagrams

• Fed'n, def'n, defn

Albanian

Alternative forms

• (Gheg) fên(i)

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *spenda, from Proto-Indo-European *spand-, related to Ancient Greek ??????? (sphadáz?, “to shiver, tremble”), Sanskrit ??????? (spandate, “to quiver, shake”), Old Norse fisa (“to fart”), Norwegian fattr (“id”)).

Verb

fend (first-person singular past tense fenda, participle fendur)

1. I break wind, fart (silently)

Synonyms

• pjerdh

Derived terms

• fendur (participle)

Related terms

• fendë f (fëndë f)

Further reading

• [3] active verb fend • Fjalor Shqip (Albanian Dictionary)

References

French

Verb

fend

1. third-person singular present indicative of fendre

Hungarian

Etymology

fen +? -d

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?f?nd]
• Hyphenation: fend

Verb

fend

1. second-person singular imperative present definite of fen

   Synonym: fenjed

Manx

Etymology

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

Verb

fend (verbal noun fendeil, past participle fendit)

1. to protect, defend

Mutation

Middle English

Noun

fend (plural fendes or fendis)

1. Alternative form of feend