Hun

[ huhn ]

noun

1. a member of a nomadic and warlike Asian people who devastated or controlled large parts of eastern and central Europe and who exercised their greatest power under Attila in the 5th century a.d.
2. (often lowercase) a barbarous, destructive person; vandal.
3. Older Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a German, especially a German soldier in World War I or II.

Hun

/ hʌn /

noun

1. a member of any of several Asiatic nomadic peoples speaking Mongoloid or Turkic languages who dominated much of Asia and E Europe from before 300 bc , invading the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries a.d
2. informal.
   (esp in World War I) a derogatory name for a German
3. informal.
   a vandal

Sensitive Note

The disparaging and offensive use of this term likens the Germans to the barbarous and warlike Huns of the 4th and 5th centuries. The source of the comparison was a speech by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900, encouraging German soldiers bound for China to act toward the Chinese just like “the Huns a thousand years ago.”

Derived Forms

• ˈHunˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• Hunlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hun¹

before 900; 1895–1900 Hun fordef 3; singular of Huns, Old English Hūnas; cognate with Old Norse Hūnar; akin to Late Latin Hunnī

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hun¹

Old English Hūnas, from Late Latin Hūnī, from Turkish Hun-yū