fen

Meaning

Noun

1. A type of wetland fed by ground water and runoff, containing peat below the waterline, characteristically alkaline.
2. (broadly) Any swamp or mire (especially with negative connotations).

Intj

Used in children's games to prevent or forestall another player's action; a check or bar.

Synonyms

marsh

bog

swamp

mire

morass

marshland

quagmire

wetland

moor

quag

slough

fenland

heath

slack

swampland

swampy ground

bayou

carr

fain

fell

mere

ooze

reservoir

swale

wetlands

Moor

Translations

palude

marais

βάλτος

marécage

Sumpf

Moor

moeras

pantano

έλος

pântano

pantà

aiguamoll

lodaçal

brejo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fɛn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fen

Inherited from Old English: fenn

Cognate with Western Frisian: fean

Cognate with Dutch: veen

Cognate with German: Fenn

Cognate with Norwegian: fen

Cognate with Middle Irish: en

Cognate with Prussian: pannean

Cognate with Sanskrit: पङ्क

In summary

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”).