hyena

See also: hýena

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English hiena, variant of hyene, from Old French hiene, from Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value), from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina). Displaced native Old English nihtgenġe (literally night walker).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: hī-ēʹnə, IPA(key): /haɪˈiːnə/
  • (file)

Noun

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

  1. Any of the medium-sized to large feliform carnivores of the subfamily Hyaenidae, native to Africa and Asia and noted for the sound similar to laughter which they can make if excited.
    • 1994, T. M. Caro, Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains: Group Living in an Asocial Species, page 283:
      I took no systematic data on the costs to cheetahs and hyenas, but some anecdotes suggest that both parties took numerical advantage and hunger into account.
    • 2002, Maskew Miller Longman, Find Out about African Animals, page 28:
      Hyenas are scavengers, which means they eat food left behind by other animals and people.
    • 2003, Anne Engh, Kay E. Holekamp, “Case Study 5A: Maternal Rank "Inheritance" in the Spotted Hyena”, in Frans B. M. De Waal, Peter L Tyack, editors, Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies, page 149:
      Hyena biologists often think of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) as baboons with big teeth and relatively small brains.
  2. (Sub-Saharan Africa) A man that performs ritualized sex acts with recently widowed women and menarchal girls.
    • see Citations:hyena

Usage notes

The hyena family, Hyaenidae, also includes the smaller insectivorous aardwolf, the sole survivor of a lineage regarded as more dog-like.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈɦɪjɛna]

Noun

hyena f

  1. Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value) (large carnivore)

Declension

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Further reading

  • hyena in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • hyena in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɦiˈjeːnaː/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: hy‧e‧na

Noun

hyena f (plural hyena's, diminutive hyenaatje n)

  1. hyena, any member of the family Hyaenidae

Derived terms

Italian

Noun

hyena f (plural hyene)

  1. (obsolete) Alternative spelling of iena

Swedish

Noun

hyena c

  1. a hyena

Declension

Lua error: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

See also

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