hyena

• hyaena, hyæna (dated)
• hyen (obsolete)

From Middle English hiena, variant of hyene, from Old French hiene, from Medieval Latin hyēna, from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina). Displaced native Old English nihtgenġe (literally “night walker”).

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

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

hyena (plural hyenas or hyena or hyenae)

1. Any of the medium-sized to large feliform carnivores of the family Hyaenidae, native to Africa and Asia and noted for the sound similar to laughter which they can make if excited.
   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 60:

     The udder of the hyena, tied on the left arm, enticed the affection of any desired woman.

   • 1994, T. M. Caro, Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains: Group Living in an Asocial Species‎^[1], 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^[2], 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. (Subsaharan Africa) A man that performs ritualized sex acts with recently widowed women and menarchal girls.
   • see Citations:hyena

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

• aardwolf (Proteles cristatus)

• Haney, Hayne

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦɪjɛna]

• Audio:

  (file)

hyena f

1. hyena (large carnivore)

• “hyena”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “hyena”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

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

• IPA^(key): /ɦiˈjeːnaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hy‧e‧na

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

1. hyena, any member of the family Hyaenidae

• bruine hyena
• gestreepte hyena
• gevlekte hyena
• hyenahond

hyena f (plural hyene)

1. (obsolete) alternative spelling of iena

hyena c

1. hyena

   skrattande hyenor

   laughing hyenas

• hund
• hynda

• hyena in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• hyena in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• hyena in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)