hean

Forms of hean

Origin of hean

From Middle English hene, from Old English hēan (“lowly, despised, poor, mean, bare, abject”), from Proto-Germanic *hauniz (“low, lowly”), from Proto-Indo-European *kaw- (“to degrade, humiliate”). Cognate with German höhn (“jeering, demeaning, bad”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌽𐍃 (hauns, “contemptible, base, humble”), Dutch hoon (“scorn, insult”), Latvian kauns (“shame, disgrace, dishonour”), Ancient Greek καυνός (kaunós, “bad”).

From Middle English henen, from Old English hīenan (“to fell, prostrate, overcome, weaken, crush, afflict, injure, oppress, abase, humble, insult, accuse, condemn”), from Proto-West Germanic *haunijan, from Proto-Germanic *haunijaną (“to humiliate”), from Proto-Indo-European *kaw- (“to degrade, humiliate”). Cognate with North Frisian huynjen (“to wound, abuse, hurt”), German höhnen (“to mock, jeer, scoff”) Swedish hån (“heckle, mocking”).

Words formed from hean

• heanling

Words that rhyme with hean

• dean
• queen
• clean
• green
• screen
• keene
• bean
• scene
• mean
• machine
• magazine
• keen

Questions about hean

What does hean mean?

Hean means mean; abject; poor; humble; lowly.

What part of speech is hean?

Hean can be an adjective or a verb.

How do you pronounce hean?

Hean is pronounced /hiːn/.