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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

fen.

A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fɛn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/fɪn/US, pin-pen-merger/fen/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline.

  2. Any swamp or mire (especially with negative connotations).

    broadly
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/fɛn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/fɪn/US, pin-pen-merger/fen/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan.

Where this word comes from

From Chinese 分 (fēn). Doublet of hoon and fan.

noun/fɛn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/fɪn/US, pin-pen-merger/fen/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. a plural of fan used by enthusiasts of science fiction, fantasy, and anime, partly from whimsy and partly to distinguish themselves from fans of sport, etc.

    slang
Where this word comes from

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

noun/fɛn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/fɪn/US, pin-pen-merger/fen/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A fennec fox.

    Internet · informal · slang
Where this word comes from

Clipping of fennec (“a small fox of the species Vulpes zerda, found in the Sahara (excluding the coast) and having distinctive oversized ears.”).

intj/fɛn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/fɪn/US, pin-pen-merger/fen/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. Used in children's games to prevent or forestall another player's action; a check or bar.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Compare fend.

noun/fɛn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/fɪn/US, pin-pen-merger/fen/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A kind of mildew that grows on hops.

    obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.