Fen

Pronunciation

• IPA: fÉ›n
• Rhymes: -É›n

From Old English fenn, from Proto-Germanic *fanją (cf. West Frisian fean, Dutch veen, Norwegian fen), from Proto-Indo-European *pen ("bog, mire") (cf. Middle Irish en ("water"), enach ("swamp"), Old Prussian pannean ("peat-bog"), Sanskrit (pánkas, "marsh, mud")).

Full definition of fen

Noun

1. a type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline
• 1842, , from byIn dark fens of the Dismal Swamp
  The hunted Negro lay; ...

Derived terms

• fenlike
• fennish

From fan, by analogy with men as the plural of man.

Noun

1. (dated, fandom) a plural form of fan used by enthusiasts of science fiction, fantasy, and anime, partly from whimsy and partly to distinguish themselves from fans of sport, etc.
• 1951, Winthrop Sargeant, Through the Interstellar Looking Glass (in Life magazine, 21 May 1951)Sad to relate, however, some of the European delegates were probably insurgents rather than true fen.