fen
/fɛn/noun
fen is spelled F-E-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fen means “A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fen is fens.
How many letters and syllables are in fen?
| Letters | 3: F-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fen?
Fen appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fen?
- US /fɛn/
- US /fɪn/
- Australia /fen/
Fen has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fen.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fen?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fen from its last stressed vowel (/ɛn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nef.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fen
- fens plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline.
Near-synonyms: marsh, swamp, bog, mire
- 2
Any swamp or mire (especially with negative connotations).
Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: / England hath need of thee: she is a fen / Of stagnant waters […]
- 3
A unit of currency in China, one-hundredth of a yuan.
- 4
slanga plural of fan used by enthusiasts of science fiction, fantasy, and anime, partly from whimsy and partly to distinguish themselves from fans of sport, etc.
- 5
informalslangA fennec fox.
- 6
obsoleteA kind of mildew that grows on hops.
interjection
- 1
obsoleteUsed in children's games to prevent or forestall another player's action; a check or bar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fen in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fen come from?
From Middle English fen, fenne, from Old English fenn (“fen; marsh; mud; dirt”), Proto-West Germanic *fani, from Proto-Germanic *fanją, from Proto-Indo-European *pen- (“bog, mire”). See also West Frisian fean, Dutch veen, German Fenn, Norwegian fen; also Middle Irish en (“water”), enach (“swamp”), Old Prussian pannean (“peat-bog”), Sanskrit पङ्क (paṅka, “marsh, mud, mire, slough”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).