Hun

See also: Appendix:Variations of "hun"

English

Etymology 1

From Old English Hūnas, Hūne (both plural), from Late Latin Hunni, from Koine Greek Οὗννοι (Hoûnnoi), borrowed through Middle Iranian. Cognate with Old Norse húnir, Old High German Hunni. See also etymology of Xiongnu.

Compare Sogdian [script needed] (xwn), Sanskrit हूण (hūṇa), and 匈奴 (OC *hoŋ-nâ) (c. 318 BCE) > *hɨoŋ-nɑ (Eastern Han), which Schuessler (2014:264)^[1] proposes to be transcription of foreign *Hŏna ~ Hŭna. More at Huns.

As a derogatory term for Germans popularized by Rudyard Kipling,^[2] reacting to Germany's proposal that the Royal Navy be used to collect debts from Venezuela.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hʌn/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /hʊn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

Noun

Hun (plural Huns)

1. A member of a nomadic tribe (the Huns) who invaded Europe in the fourth century from Central Asia.
2. (figuratively) A vandal, a barbarian, an uncivilized destructive person.
3. (slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A German.

   Synonyms: Fritz, Jerry, Kraut

   • 1919, Gerald Featherstone Knight, Brother Bosch: An Airman's Escape from Germany‎:

     Doubtless the first German band to return to England will be composed of the most gentle peace and beer-loving Huns that ever visited our favoured shores.

4. (slang, derogatory, UK, Ireland) A Protestant.

   Synonyms: Prod, Proddy, orangie, Orangeman

5. (slang, derogatory, UK, Ireland) A Rangers Football Club supporter; an Orangeman.^[3]

   Synonym: Orangeman

Derived terms

• Hunlike
• Hunnic
• Hunnish

Translations

member of nomadic tribe

Armenian: հոն (hy) (hon) Middle Armenian: հոն (hon) Catalan: hun m Chinese: Mandarin: 匈人 (xiōngrén) Czech: Hun (cs) m Dutch: Hun (nl) Faroese: húni m Finnish: hunni (fi) French: Hun (fr) m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Hunne (de) m, Hunnin (de) f Greek: Ούννος (el) m (Oúnnos) Ancient: Οὔννος m (Oúnnos) Hindi: हूण (hi) m (hūṇ) Hungarian: hun (hu) Italian: unno (it) Japanese: フン族 (fun-zoku) Kazakh: ғұн (ğūn) Latin: (please verify) Hunni (plural) Mongolian: хүннү (xünnü) Norwegian: hun (no) m Bokmål: huner m Nynorsk: hunar m Old English: Hūne m pl Old High German: Hunni m pl Old Norse: húnir m pl Persian: هون (fa) (hun) Polish: Hun (pl) m, Hunka (pl) f Portuguese: huno m Russian: гунн (ru) m (gunn) Sanskrit: हूण (sa) m (hūṇa) Spanish: huno (es) Turkish: Hun (tr)

derogatory: German — see Fritz

German — see German

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Khmer ហ៊ុន (hun).

Proper noun

Hun (plural Huns)

1. A surname from Khmer.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Hun is the 35993^rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 623 individuals. Hun is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (73.52%) and White (12.2%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Hun”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 215.

References

1. Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes on Hàn Period Transcriptions of Foreign Names and Words" in Studies in Chinese and Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Dialect, Phonology, Transcription and Text. Series: Language and Linguistics Monograph Series. 53 Ed. VanNess Simmons, Richard & Van Auken, Newell Ann. Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
2. Rudyard Kipling (1902) “The Rowers”, in The years between, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1919: “‘In sight of peace—from the Narrow Seas / O'er half the world to run— / With a cheated crew, to league anew / With the Goth and the shameless Hun!’”
3. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14781611.use-of-word-hun-and-jock-of-limited-concern-but-fenian-and-prod-is-unacceptable-says-ofcom/

Anagrams

• nuh, unh

Dutch

Etymology

From Late Latin Hunni.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Hun m (plural Hunnen, diminutive Hunnetje n)

1. a Hun, member of the nomadic tribe
2. (figuratively) a barbarian, brute

French

Etymology

From Latin Hunni. Possibly a doublet of Xiongnu.

Proper noun

Hun m

1. Huns; Alternative form of Huns; a nomadic people originating out of Central Asia that invaded the Roman Empire in the 5th century

Noun

Hun m (plural Huns)

1. Hun; a member of the Huns, a nomadic tribe originating out of Central Asia that invaded the Roman Empire in the 5th century

Derived terms

• hunnique

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• hun (Föhr-Amrum)
• hönj (Mooring)

Etymology

From Old Frisian hond. Cognates include hân.

Noun

Hun f (plural Hunen)

1. (Sylt) hand

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xuːn/, [huːn]

Proper noun

Hun m

1. a male given name

References

• A. D. Mills (2003 October 9) A Dictionary of British Place-Names‎, OUP Oxford, →ISBN

Old High German

Proper noun

Hūn

1. nominative/accusative singular of Hūni