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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL6 source sections across 1 headword matching “Fen”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
fenEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
From Middle English fen, fenne, from Old English fenn (“fen; marsh; mud; dirt”), Proto-West Germanic *fani, from Proto-Germanic *fanją, from Proto-Indo-European *pen- (“bog, mire”). See also West Frisian fean, Dutch veen, German Fenn, Norwegian fen; also Middle Irish en (“water”), enach (“swamp”), Old Prussian pannean (“peat-bog”), Sanskrit पङ्क (paṅka, “marsh, mud, mire, slough”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗fenEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
From Chinese 分 (fēn). Doublet of hoon and fan.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗fenEnglish (en) · Etymology 3Source text
From fan, by analogy with men as the plural of man.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗fenEnglish (en) · Etymology 4Source text
Clipping of fennec (“a small fox of the species Vulpes zerda, found in the Sahara (excluding the coast) and having distinctive oversized ears.”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗fenEnglish (en) · Etymology 5Source text
Compare fend.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗fenEnglish (en) · Etymology 6Source text
From Middle English *vene, Kentish variant of *fine, from Old English fyne (“moisture, mold, mildew”), from Proto-Germanic *funiz, *fun- (“moisture, mold”); compare vinew.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
More sources for this spelling
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Chambers (1908)
1908- FenEnglish · e-38538-1521
Fen, fen, n. a kind of low marshy land often, or partially, covered with water: a morass or bog.—ns. Fen′-berr′y, the cranberry; Fen′-fire, the Will-o'-the-wisp.—adjs. Fen′ny, Fen′nish; Fen′-sucked (Shak.), drawn out of
Read the full source record → - FenEnglish · e-38538-1522
Fen, fen, v.t. an exclamatory phrase in boys' games, meaning 'Check!' 'Bar!' [Cf. Fend.]
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