English

Noun

Hun ‎(plural Huns)

1. A member of a nomadic tribe, the Huns, most likely of Turkic origin, which invaded Europe in the fourth century from Central Asia.
2. (figuratively) a vandal, a barbarian, an uncivilized destructive person
3. (slang, derogatory, Britain) A German (popular in the media since World War I)
4. (slang, derogatory, Britain, Ireland) A Protestant.

Related terms

• Hunnic

Synonyms

• (derogatory term for a German): Fritz, Jerry, Kraut
• (derogatory term for a Protestant): Prod, Proddy, orangie, Orangeman

Translations

See also

• Hun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• nuh

References

1. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Hun", Online Etymology Dictionary

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

Hun m ‎(plural Hunnen, diminutive Hunnetje n)

1. A Hun, member of the nomadic tribe
2. (figuratively) A barbarian, brute

English

Noun

hun ‎(uncountable)

1. (slang) Affectionate abbreviation of honey. Alternative spelling of hon
2. A grey partridge.

Anagrams

• nuh

Breton

Noun

hun ?

1. sleep

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse hon.

Noun

hun c (singular definite hunnen, plural indefinite hunner)

1. female, she
2. hen (female bird)

Inflection

Pronoun

hun ‎(objective case hende, possessive hendes)

1. (personal) she

See also

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦʏn/

Etymology 1

Pronoun

hun ‎(personal)

1. The dative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: them, to them.
2. (proscribed) The accusative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: them.

hun (dependent possessive) (independent possessive hunne)

1. The third-person plural possessive pronoun: their.

Usage notes

The difference between hen (as direct object) and hun (as indirect object) does not stem from actual language usage, but was created artificially by the prescriptive grammarian Christiaen van Heule in the 17th century in an attempt to differentiate between the accusative (direct object) and dative case (indirect object); he was inspired by the Latin case system.

In practice, hen and hun have always been used interchangeably and many speakers are not aware or have trouble remembering when to use the one or the other, in part because of the rule's artificiality, in part because the distinction in form between the accusative and dative case is not made anywhere else in the language. As a consequence, it is common to hear sentences like these:

• Hij heeft hun verraden. (“He has betrayed them.”)
• Ze zijn met hun uitgegaan. (“They have gone out with them.”)

The inverse is also common:

• Ik heb het hen gegeven. (“I have given it to them.”)

In an attempt to circumvent this problem, the nominative case can be used for both:

• Hij heeft ze verraden.
• Ze zijn met ze uitgegaan.
• Ik heb het ze gegeven.

In recent years, the interchangeable usage of hen and hun is no longer considered erroneous. For more information, see the article in the Dutch Wikipedia.

Inflection

Related terms

• zij, ze
• hen

Etymology 2

Likely a replacement of or based on dialectal Dutch hullie or a variant thereof, which is a contraction of hunlieden or hunlui, a compound of hun ("them") + lieden or lui (both meaning "men, people"), which then translates roughly into "them-people". Possibly reinfluenced by or confused with the possessive hun. This etymology explains why usage of hun occurs only when referring to people, never to objects.

Also interestingly is the somewhat parallel evolution in daughter language Afrikaans, where hulle is the normal 3rd person plural pronoun, and which has formed similarly from Dutch hullie. For more information, see the article in the Dutch Wikipedia.

Pronoun

hun ‎(personal)

1. (proscribed, regiolectal, Netherlands) The nominative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: they.

Usage notes

• Only used for people.
• The use of hun as a subject is considered incorrect or substandard by most speakers, both in written and spoken language, and only occurs in the Netherlands, not in Belgium and Suriname.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhun]

Adjective

hun (not comparable)

1. of or relating to Huns

Conjunction

hun

1. (regional) where (regional variant of hol)

Noun

hun ‎(plural hunok)

1. Hun

Declension

Label

Etymology

Compare Tolai vudu and Patpatar hudu.

Noun

hun

1. banana

References

• Ulrike Mosel, Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (1980)

Malay

Noun

hun

1. A unit of weight equal to one hundredth of a tahil.

Mandarin

Romanization

hun (Zhuyin ㄏㄨㄣ˙)

1. Nonstandard spelling of hūn.
2. Nonstandard spelling of hún.
3. Nonstandard spelling of hǔn.
4. Nonstandard spelling of hùn.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Mizo

Noun

hun

1. time

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian hond. Cognates include Mooring North Frisian hönj and West Frisian hân.

Noun

hun f ‎(plural hunen)

1. (Föhr-Amrum) (anatomy) hand

   a rocht(er)/lacht(er) hun

   the right/left hand

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse hon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hʉn/
• Homophones: hund, hunn
• Rhymes: -ʉn

Pronoun

hun ‎(accusative henne, genitive hennes)

1. she

Derived terms

• hunkjønn

References

• “hun” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

See also

Old Portuguese

Article

hun

1. Alternative form of ũu

Tetum

Noun

hun

1. bottom, base
2. beginning
3. origin

Vietnamese

Etymology

Intentional mispronunciation of hôn, to avoid awkward situations, chiefly in Southern dialects.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [hun˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [hun˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [hʊwŋ͡m˧˥]

Verb

hun

1. (Southern Vietnam, slang, especially on the lips) to kiss

Synonyms

• thơm, hôn, chu, chụt, mi