den

Meaning

Noun

1. A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.
2. A squalid or wretched place; a haunt.
3. A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining.
4. Synonym of fort (“structure improvised from furniture, etc. for playing games.”).
5. (Scotland, UK, obsolete) A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell.
6. A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together.

Verb

1. (reflexive) To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den.
2. (intransitive) Of an animal, to use as a den; to take up residence in.

Adv

Pronunciation spelling of then, representing AAVE, Bermuda English.

Synonyms

lair

hole

🕳️

cave

nest

burrow

hideout

haunt

grotto

pit

cavern

hideaway

house

🏠

living room

covert

joint

hangout

dive

cellule

residence

retreat

dwelling

small room

cuddy

family room

home

🏠

base

parrock

ditch

lore

nidus

lodge

niche

opening

pigpen

pool

private room

recess

residency

sanctum

sett

shelter

slum

snuggery

sty

trench

tunnel

valley

warren

white

wound

Translations

Höhle

tanière

antre

terrier

tana

madriguera

covo

Bau

hol

🕳️

cubil

nid

guarida

grot

covil

Nest

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɛn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: den

Inherited from Old English: denn

Cognate with Scots: den

Cognate with Middle Dutch: denne

Cognate with Dutch: den

Cognate with Middle Low German: denne

Cognate with German: Tenne

In summary

From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow, den, cave, attic”), Dutch den (“ship's deck, threshing-floor, mountain floor”), Middle Low German denne, danne (“threshing-floor, small dale”), German Tenne (“threshing-floor, barn for threshing”).