noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of several species of bird in the genus Porphyrio of the family Rallidae.
2. 2
   any of various small aquatic birds of the genus Gallinula distinguished from rails by a frontal shield and a resemblance to domestic hens wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

gallinulegallinulemarsh henwater hen

Etymology

From swamp + hen.

Related phrases

African swamphenAustralasian swamphenLord Howe swamphenMarquesan swamphenPhilippine swamphenPorphyrio albusPorphyrio madagascariensisPorphyrio porphyrioRéunion swamphenblack-backed swamphengrey-headed swamphenpurple swamphen

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.