different between fen vs mire

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ma??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ma??/, /?ma??/
• Rhymes: -a??(r)

Etymology 1

From Middle English mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr, from Proto-Germanic *miuzij?, whence also Swedish myr, Norwegian myr, Icelandic mýri, Dutch *mier (in placenames, for example Mierlo). Related to Proto-Germanic *meus?, whence Old English m?os, and Proto-Germanic *mus?, whence Old English mos (English moss).

Noun

mire (countable and uncountable, plural mires)

1. Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
   • When Caliban was lazy and neglected his work, Ariel (who was invisible to all eyes but Prospero’s) would come slyly and pinch him, and sometimes tumble him down in the mire. (Charles Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare, Hatier, coll. « Les Classiques pour tous » n° 223, p. 51)

   Synonyms: peatland, quag

   Hypernym: wetland

   Hyponyms: bog, fen

2. An undesirable situation, a predicament.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mire (third-person singular simple present mires, present participle miring, simple past and past participle mired)

1. (transitive) To cause or permit to become stuck in mud; to plunge or fix in mud.

   Synonyms: bemire, enmire

2. (intransitive) To sink into mud.
3. (transitive, figuratively) To weigh down.
4. (intransitive) To soil with mud or foul matter.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, Act IV, Scene 1,^[2]

     Why had I not with charitable hand

     Took up a beggar’s issue at my gates,

     Who smirch’d thus and mired with infamy,

     I might have said ‘No part of it is mine;

     This shame derives itself from unknown loins’?

   Synonym: bemire

Derived terms

• unmired

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English mire, from Old English *m?re, *m?ere, from Proto-Germanic *miurij?. Cognate to Old Norse maurr, Danish myre, Middle Dutch miere (“ant”) (Dutch mier). All probably from Proto-Indo-European *morwi- (“ant”), whence also cognate to Latin form?ca.

Noun

mire (plural mires)

1. (obsolete) An ant.

Related terms

Anagrams

• IMer, Meir, Meri, emir, meri, reim, riem, rime

Asturian

Verb

mire

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of mirar

Esperanto

Etymology

From miri +? -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mire/
• Hyphenation: mi?re
• Rhymes: -ire

Adverb

mire

1. in surprise, in awe, in an amazed way

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi?/

Etymology 1

From Italian mira, from Latin m?r? (“I wonder at”).

Noun

mire f (plural mires)

1. (archaic) aim (action of aiming)
2. foresight (of rifle)
3. target (literal, figurative)
4. (television) test pattern
5. (surveying) rod (measuring tool)

Derived terms

• ligne de mire
• point de mire

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

mire

1. inflection of mirer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “mire” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• émir, Remi, Rémi, rime, rimé

Galician

Verb

mire

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of mirar

Hungarian

Etymology

mi (“what?”) +? -re (sublative case suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?mir?]
• Hyphenation: mi?re
• Rhymes: -r?

Pronoun

mire

1. sublative singular of mi

Pronoun

mire

1. for what (purpose)?

Adverb

mire (not comparable)

1. whereupon (after which, in consequence)

2. by the time, when

Derived terms

• amire

Further reading

• mire 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

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?????/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish mire (“madness, frenzy, infatuation”).

Noun

mire f (genitive singular mire)

1. quickness, rapidity
2. spiritedness, ardor
3. madness, frenzy, mania

   Synonym: buile

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Adjective

mire

1. inflection of mear:
   1. genitive feminine singular
   2. comparative degree

Mutation

References

• "mire" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “mire”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “mire” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “mire” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Italian

Noun

mire f

1. plural of mira

Anagrams

• meri, remi, rime

Ladin

Verb

mire

1. inflection of mirer:
   1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?mi?.re/, [?mi???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?mi.re/, [?mi???]

Participle

m?re

1. vocative masculine singular of m?rus

References

• mire in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• mire in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Norse mýrr, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *miuzij?.

Alternative forms

• myre, myer, muire, myrre, muyre

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi?r/
• (SW England) IPA^(key): /my?r/

Noun

mire (plural mires)

2. Marshy or swampy land; a mire or peat.
3. A region of marshy or swampy land.
4. A muddy or dirt-covered region.
5. (figuratively) Iniquity, sinfulness; immoral behaviour.
6. (rare) A quagmire or conundrum.
7. (rare) A puddle or pond; a watery hollow.

Derived terms

• myren

Descendants

• English: mire (“swamp”)
• Scots: mire

References

• “m?re, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-20.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old English *m?re, *m?ere, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *miurij?.

Alternative forms

• myre

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mi?r(?)/

Noun

mire

2. ant

Derived terms

• pissemyre

Descendants

• English: mire (“ant”) (obsolete)

References

• “m?re, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-20.

Portuguese

Verb

mire

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of mirar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of mirar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of mirar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of mirar

Romanian

Etymology

Possibly a substratum word, or from Greek ????? (mýron, “ointment, uncture, holy oil”), relating to the ceremony of the Orthodox wedding. Another theory suggests Latin m?les (“soldier”), possibly mirroring semantic evolution of the rare voin? (“husband”), from Slavic ????? (voin?, “warrior”). Other less likely etymologies proposed include Turkish amir (“chief”), Cuman mir ("prince"), a Vulgar Latin *milex, from Ancient Greek ?????? (meîrax, “adolescent; boy”), or an old Indo-European term.

Possibly related to Albanian mirë (“good”). Replaced m?rit, which only survived in some regional dialects.

Noun

mire m (plural miri, feminine equivalent mireas?)

1. bridegroom

Derived terms

• mireas?

See also

• mir
• so?

References

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish mire (“madness, frenzy, infatuation”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?i???/

Noun

mire f (genitive singular mire, plural mirean)

1. merriment, mirth, frolic

Derived terms

• gille-mirein

Mutation

References

• “mire” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic–English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, ?ISBN.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “mire”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

mire (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. third-person plural present of miriti

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mi?e/, [?mi.?e]

Verb

mire

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of mirar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of mirar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of mirar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of mirar.