# fen

Pronunciation: US say "FEN" /fɛn/; UK

## Noun

1. An area of low, wet, marshy land, in strict use a peat-forming wetland fed by groundwater and usually alkaline.
   - Simple: Low, flat land that is wet and marshy.
   - _Conservationists worked for years to restore the drained fen to its natural state._
   - _Peat cutters once dug fuel from the fen at the end of each summer._
2. A unit of Chinese currency worth one-hundredth of a yuan.
   - Simple: A small unit of money in China, equal to one part in a hundred of a yuan.
   - _A single fen will barely buy anything in modern China._
   - _Old coins worth a few fen still turn up in collectors' drawers._
3. A whimsical plural of fan adopted by science fiction, fantasy, and anime enthusiasts to set themselves apart from followers of sports and the like. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A joking way to say 'fans,' used by lovers of science fiction, fantasy, and anime.
   - _The fen swapped fan art and wild theories late into the night._
   - _Local fen organized a costume contest at the neighborhood bookstore._

## Noun

4. A mildew that forms on growing hop plants. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A type of mildew that grows on hop plants.

## Interjection

5. A call in children's games that blocks or forestalls a move by another player; a check. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A call children once used in games to stop or block another player's move.

## Other meanings

- (noun) An informal, shortened name for the fennec fox, a small big-eared fox native to North African deserts.

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — From Middle English fen, from Old English fenn ("fen, marsh, mud, dirt"), from Proto-Germanic *fanją and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *pen- ("bog, mire"), with cognates such as Dutch veen and German Fenn.
**Meaning 2** — From Chinese 分 (fēn), and a doublet of hoon and fan.
**Meaning 3** — Formed from fan on the pattern of man and its plural men.
**Meaning 5** — Perhaps related to fend, "to ward off."
**Meaning 4** — Old English fyne, meaning "moisture, mold, mildew," came from Proto-Germanic *funiz ("moisture, mold") and became Middle English *fine. In Kent the form was *vene, and fen in this sense comes from that Kentish variant.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fen (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).