henchman

henchman

English

Etymology

From Middle English henxman (“page, attendant”), from Old English *hengstmann, *hengestmann (“groom”, literally “horseman”), from hengst, hengest (“stallion, horse, steed, gelding”) (from Proto-Germanic *hangistaz (“stallion”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱanḱest-, *kankest- (“horse”)) + mann (“man”). Cognate with archaic German Hengstmann (“a groom”), Icelandic hestamaður (“horseman, groom”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛnt͡ʃ.mən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

henchman (plural henchmen)

1. A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:loyal follower

2. A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
3. An assistant member of a criminal gang.
4. (obsolete) A page to a prince or other person of high rank.

Translations

a loyal and trusted follower or subordinate

Arabic: ذَنَب‎ m (ḏanab) Armenian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: привърженик (bg) m (privǎrženik), последовател (bg) m (posledovatel) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: stoupenec (cs) m Danish: håndlanger c Dutch: handlanger (nl) m, aanhanger (nl) m, volgeling (nl) m Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: aseenkantaja (fi), kätyri (fi), apuri (fi), käskyläinen (fi) French: sbire (fr) m, séide (fr) m, acolyte (fr) m, sous-fifre (fr) m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Handlanger (de) m, Handlangerin f, Scherge (de) m Greek: μπράβος (el) m (brávos) Hebrew: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: híve (hu), csatlós (hu), szolga (hu), lakáj (hu) Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Malay: konco Polish: stronnik (pl) m, poplecznik (pl) m, zausznik (pl) m Portuguese: capanga (pt) class noun Russian: сторо́нник (ru) m (storónnik), после́дователь (ru) m (poslédovatelʹ), приспе́шник (ru) m (prispéšnik), побо́рник (ru) m (pobórnik), (derogatory) при́хвостень (ru) m (príxvostenʹ) Slovak: služobník m, služobníčka f, poskok m Spanish: secuaz (es) m Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: yardımcı (tr)

a person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests

Dutch: aanhanger (nl), volgeling (nl) m Finnish: aseenkantaja (fi) German: Anhänger (de) m, Anhängerin (de) f, Gefolgsmann (de) m Hungarian: bérenc (hu) Polish: poplecznik (pl) m, zausznik (pl) m, stronnik (pl) m Russian: приспе́шник (ru) m (prispéšnik), сторо́нник (ru) m (storónnik), (derogatory) при́хвостень (ru) m (príxvostenʹ), подпева́ла (ru) (podpevála) Slovak: pravá ruka f Turkish: çıkarcı yardımcı

an assistant member of a criminal gang

Catalan: esbirro m Czech: kumpán (cs) m, nohsled (cs) m Dutch: trawant (nl) m, handlanger (nl) m, meeloper (nl) Finnish: rikollisjengin jäsen French: sbire (fr) m, homme de main (fr), gangster (fr) German: Spießgeselle (de) m Hungarian: pribék (hu), verőember (hu), fogdmeg (hu), gorilla (hu) Italian: bandito (it) m, malandrino (it) m, malavitoso (it) m, malvivente (it) m, Norwegian: Bokmål: medsammensvoren m Occitan: esbirro m Polish: zbir (pl) m, gangster (pl) m Russian: шестёрка (ru) m (šestjórka), ма́льчик на побегу́шках (málʹčik na pobegúškax), поде́льник (ru) m (podélʹnik) Slovak: gorila (sk), gangster Slovene: please add this translation if you can Spanish: esbirro m Turkish: uşak (tr), yandaş (tr)