Hun
nounproper nounattested in dialogue
- Ireland//hʊn//
- //hʌn//
A member of a nomadic tribe (the Huns) who invaded Europe in the fourth century from Central Asia.
noun
- 1
A member of a nomadic tribe (the Huns) who invaded Europe in the fourth century from Central Asia.
- 2
figurativeA vandal, a barbarian, an uncivilized destructive person.
- 3
slangA German.
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
slangA Protestant.
- 5
slangA Rangers Football Club supporter; an Orangeman.
Etymology
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.
proper noun
- 1
A surname from Khmer.
Etymology
Borrowed from Khmer ហ៊ុន (hun).
Forms
- plural
- Huns
Hun · A member of a nomadic tribe (the Huns) who invaded Europe in the fourth century from Central Asia.
hunch · A hump; a protuberance.hundred · A numerical value equal to 100 (10²), occurring after…hung · Suspended by hanging.