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Hun

//hʌn// name, noun, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Khmer.
Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of hon (“affectionate abbreviation of honey”). alt-of, alternative, informal

    "So social media has broken even Elon Musk. I’m forced to ask: U OK hun? [title]"

  2. 2
    A grey partridge.
  3. 3
    Alternative form of hoon (“Indian gold coin”). alt-of, alternative
  4. 4
    A member of a nomadic tribe (the Huns) who invaded Europe in the fourth century from Central Asia.
  5. 5
    offensive term for a person of German descent wordnet
Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    A woman perceived as basic, brash, working class and fond of alcohol. UK, slang

    "Answer: you are a hun – but a high-end hun, one who knows her wine, her music, her interiors and her labels, and whose reluctance to do Dry January, or go vegan makes her such great company, this month and every month."

  2. 7
    A vandal, a barbarian, an uncivilized destructive person. figuratively
  3. 8
    a member of a nomadic people who invaded Europe in the 4th century wordnet
  4. 9
    A woman involved in a multi-level marketing scheme, especially one who pushes it on social media. slang

    "This corporate love-bombing can serve a hun well, bagging them new downlines and potentially more money (MLMs are renowned for extremely low pay)."

  5. 10
    A German. derogatory, ethnic, slang, slur

    "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."

  6. 11
    A Protestant. Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang
  7. 12
    A Rangers Football Club supporter; an Orangeman. Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang

Etymology

Etymology 1

Clipping of honey with pronunciation spelling.

Etymology 2

Clipping of Hungarian partridge.

Etymology 3

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) proposes to be transcription of foreign *Hŏna ~ Hŭna. More at Huns. As a derogatory term for Germans popularized by Rudyard Kipling, reacting to Germany's proposal that the Royal Navy be used to collect debts from Venezuela.

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Khmer ហ៊ុន (hun).

See also for "hun"

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