English
hen
Hen comes from Middle English hen ‘hen, chicken’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kan-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kan-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hanjōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hannjureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150henn
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hen‘hen, chicken’
- Englishearliest quotation 1785hen
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kan-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hanjōreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hannjureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150henn
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hen‘hen, chicken’
- Englishearliest quotation 1785hen
Earliest quotation: 1785, Francis Grose: “Hen, a woman. A cock and hen club; a…”
The story
Also cognate to Latin cicōnia (‘stork’), Latin canō (‘to sing’), Russian каню́к (kanjúk, “buzzard”).
Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *kan-
Another origin of hen
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱe-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hinareconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150heonan‘from here, hence’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500henne
- Englishtodayhen
Today it means
noun A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kan- / hen