HEN

hen, a female bird, especially the female of the common fowl (q.v.). the o. eng. _haen_ is the feminine form of _hana_, the male bird, a correlation of words which is represented in other teutonic languages, cf. ger. _hahn_, _henne_, dutch _haan_, _hen_, swed. _hane_, _honne_, &c. the o. eng. name for the male bird has disappeared, its place being taken by "cock," a word probably of onomatopoeic origin, being from a base _kuk_- or _kik_-, seen also in "chicken." this word also appears in fr. _coq_, and medieval lat. _coccus_.