hen

/hɛn/

//hɛn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"hen" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hen” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,733) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,733
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hen · hen · English

hen · rank #13,733 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,733
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Harlem

Nearest frequency peer: Harlem (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “hen”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hen” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

hen vs hi
33% similar
hen vs ho
33% similar
hen vs HR
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for hen
PropertyValue
Headwordhen
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɛn/
Letters3
Frequency rank#13,733
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hen” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).hen lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hen is neighbouring look-alikes ("hi", "ho", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /hɛn/. Frequency #13,733 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 11 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for hen, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hi", "ho", "HR", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hen, from Old English henn (“hen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hannju, from Proto-Germanic *hanjō (“hen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kan-, *kana- (“to sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hanne (“hen”), West Frisian hin (“hen”), Dutch h… The correct English form is hen, spelled H-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.
  2. 2
    A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.
  3. 3
    A female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.
  4. 4
    A woman.
  5. 5
    A woman.
  6. 6
    A hen night.
  7. 7
    An affectionate term of address used to women or girls.
  8. 8
    The penis of a trans woman.
  9. 9
    A henlike person of either sex.
  10. 10
    The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a bivalve shellfish.
  11. 11
    A large pewter pot used in a tavern.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how hen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
  2. In Tain, north of Inverness, staff detected 11 males and at least seven hens – the highest number there since 2011.

Etymology

From Middle English hen, from Old English henn (“hen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hannju, from Proto-Germanic *hanjō (“hen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kan-, *kana- (“to sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hanne (“hen”), West Frisian hin (“hen”), Dutch hen (“hen”), German Low German Heen (“hen”), German Henne (“hen”), Danish høne (“hen”), Swedish höna (“hen”), Icelandic hæna (“hen”). Related to Old English hana (“cock, rooster”). Also cognate to Latin cicōnia (“stork”), Latin canō (“to sing”), Russian каню́к (kanjúk, “buzzard”). Compare Russian пету́х (petúx, “rooster, cock”) from Russian петь (petʹ, “to sing”). Etymology 1 sense 7 after cock (“male chicken; man's penis”).

Synonyms

hen-birdbachelorettehard clamhen-clamhen-fish

This word in other languages

gallina(Español)poule(Français)Henne(Deutsch)galinha(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hen"?
"hen" is spelled H-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is /hɛn/.
What does "hen" mean?
As a noun, "hen" means: A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.
What words are commonly confused with "hen"?
"hen" is commonly confused with "hi", "ho", "HR". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hen" is /hɛn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hen"?
From Middle English hen, from Old English henn (“hen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hannju, from Proto-Germanic *hanjō (“hen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kan-, *kana- (“to sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hanne (“hen”), West Frisian hin (“hen”... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

MRI#13,763DIN#13,698Ons#13,770bun#13,674

What to do next

You've looked up "hen". Here's where to go from here.

  • "hen" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "hi". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #13,733 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "H" letter cohort. H–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list