Hen

In addition to the little egg spawning machine, hen is Greek for "one" and is used by Plotinus in his theory of emanation to describe the source of all being - the "single one" that includes all other things but is not included in anything: the ultimate reality and the source of both all existence and also all order.

Hen (?), n. [AS. henn, hen, haen; akin to D. hen, OHG. henna, G. henne, Icel. hna, Dan. hona; the fem. corresponding to AS. hana cock, D. haan, OHG. hano, G. hahn, Icel. hani, Dan. & Sw. hane. Prob. akin to L. canere to sing, and orig. meaning, a singer. Cf. Chanticleer.] Zool.

The female of the domestic fowl; also, the female of grouse, pheasants, or any kind of birds; as, the heath hen; the gray hen.

Used adjectively or in combination to indicate the female; as, hen canary, hen eagle, hen turkey, peahen.

Hen clam. Zool. (a) A clam of the Mactra, and allied genera; the sea clam or surf clam. See Surf clam. (b) A California clam of the genus Pachydesma. -- Hen driver. See Hen harrier (below). -- Hen harrier Zool., a hawk (Circus cyaneus), found in Europe and America; -- called also dove hawk, henharm, henharrow, hen driver, and usually, in America, marsh hawk. See Marsh hawk. -- Hen hawk Zool., one of several species of large hawks which capture hens; esp., the American red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis), the red-shouldered hawk (B. lineatus), and the goshawk.

© Webster 1913.