Hēn, n.

n. [A-S. henn, hen, D. hen, N. H. Ger. henne, O. H. Ger. hennâ, Icel. hāna, Dan. hōne, Sw. hōna, from A-S. & Goth. hana, O. H. Ger. hano, N. H. Ger. hahn, D. haan, Icel. hani, Dan. & Sw. hane, a cock, originally the singer, allied to Lat. canere, to sing. Cf. CHANTICLEER.] The female of any kind of fowl; especially, the female of the domestic fowl, or, as it is sometimes called, the barn-yard fowl.