fen

¹

[ fen ]

noun

1. low land covered wholly or partially with water; boggy land; a marsh.
2. the Fens, a marshy region W and S of The Wash, in E England.

fen

²

[ fen ]

noun

, plural fen.

1. an aluminum coin and monetary unit of the People's Republic of China, the hundredth part of a yuan or the tenth part of a jiao.

fen

¹

/ fɛn /

noun

1. low-lying flat land that is marshy or artificially drained

fen

²

/ fɛn /

noun

1. a monetary unit of the People's Republic of China, worth one hundredth of a yuan

Word History and Origins

Origin of fen¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Norse fen quagmire, Gothic fani mud, Dutch ven, German Fenn fen, bog

Origin of fen²

First recorded in 1905–10, fen is from the Chinese word fēn

Word History and Origins

Origin of fen¹

Old English fenn ; related to Old High German fenna , Old Norse fen , Gothic fani clay, Sanskrit panka mud

Origin of fen²

from Mandarin Chinese

Example Sentences

The 32-year-old photographer from Suffolk, who has previously documented fen skaters in rural Cambridgeshire, said he was drawn to a ploughing match for the same reason: a celebration of hobbies in rural communities.

From BBC

She was born near the Alps, probably in southern Germany, and moved to the flat, Cambridgeshire fens at some point after she turned seven.

From BBC

But there's no small amount of controversy when it comes to marshes, mires, fens, bogs, vernal pools, prairie ponds, pocosins, sloughs, small streams, seasonal streams, and rain-dependent streams.

From Salon

When photographer Harry George Hall began reading about fen skating, he decided to make his way to rural Cambridgeshire to see it for himself.

From BBC

The Sacketts’ property was connected to a fen and, thence, to the lake, via a “shallow subsurface flow” of moisture, the agency advised, making it subject to the 1972 Clean Water Act.

From Washington Post