hyena

hyena

See also: hýena

English

a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

Alternative forms

• hyaena; hyæna (dated)

Etymology

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").

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

hyena (plural hyenas or hyena or hyenae)

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, 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

• brown hyena (Hyaena brunnea)
• laughing hyena (= spotted hyena)
• spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
• striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)

Translations

mammal

Afrikaans: hiëna (af) Albanian: hienë (sq) f Amharic: ዥብ (žəb) Arabic: ضَبُع‎ m (ḍabuʿ) Egyptian Arabic: ضَبْع‎ m (ḍabʿ) Hijazi Arabic: ضَبْع‎ m (ḍabʿ) Moroccan Arabic: ضبع‎ m (ḍbaʿ) Armenian: բորենի (hy) (boreni) Asturian: hiena f Azerbaijani: kaftar (az) Barein: búlmí Bari: gworong Bashkir: һыртлан (hırtlan) Basque: hiena (eu) Belarusian: гіе́на f (hijéna) Bengali: হায়েনা (bn) (hayena) Bulgarian: хие́на (bg) f (hiéna) Burmese: ဟိုင်းအီနာ (huing:ina) Catalan: hiena (ca) f Cerma: maamuŋo Chichewa: fisi Chinese: Mandarin: 鬣狗 (zh) (liègǒu); (dated) 海乙那 (hǎiyǐnà) Czech: hyena (cs) f Dagbani: kunduŋ Danish: hyæne (da) c Dime: nayi Dutch: hyena (nl) f Esperanto: hieno Estonian: hüään (et) Finnish: hyeena (fi) French: hyène (fr) f Friulian: jene f Galician: hiena (gl) f Ge'ez: ዝእብ (zəʾb) Georgian: აფთარი (aptari) German: Hyäne (de) f Greek: ύαινα (el) f (ýaina) Ancient: γλάνος m (glános), ὕαινα f (húaina) Gwere: mpiti Hausa: kūrā (ha) Hebrew: צָבוֹעַ‎ (he) m (tsavóa) Hindi: लकड़बग्घा (hi) m (lakaṛbagghā) Hungarian: hiéna (hu) Icelandic: híena f, hýena f Indonesian: dubuk (id) Irish: hiéana m Italian: iena (it) f Japanese: ハイエナ (ja) (haiena), 鬣犬 (ja) (たてがみいぬ, tategamiinu) Kannada: ಕತ್ತೆಕಿರುಬ (kn) (kattekiruba) Karang: mgburum Kazakh: қорқау (qorqau) Khmer: (please verify) សត្វស្វាន (sat svaan) Kikuyu: hiti class 9/10 Korean: 하이에나 (ko) (haiena) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: کەمتیار‎ (ku) (kemtyar) Kyrgyz: гиена (giyena), көкжал (kökjal) Lao: ຫມາໃນ (mā nai), ໝາໄນ (lo) (mā nai), ສຸນັກໄນ (su nak nai) Latin: hyaena (la) f Latvian: hiēna f Lithuanian: hiena f Maasai: olng'ojine m Macedonian: хие́на f (hiéna) Magahi: 𑂍𑂳𑂞𑂪𑂰𑂍𑂰𑂚 (kutlākāṛ) Malay: dubuk, hiena Malayalam: കഴുതപ്പുലി (ml) (kaḻutappuli) Maltese: jena f Mandinka: suluwo Middle English: hiene Mongolian: Cyrillic: цөөвөр чоно (cöövör čono) Moroccan Amazigh: ⵉⴼⵉⵙ m (ifis) Nandi: kimaket Njyem: bʉʉ Nkonya: ɔkpataku Norwegian: Bokmål: hyene m Nuer: yak Nupe: màkundunnu Old English: nihtgenġe f Oromo: waraabessa Ottoman Turkish: صرتلان‎ (sırtlan) Pashto: اښوپړانګ‎ m (aӽoрṛãng), کوږ‎ m (koẓ), کوږبل‎ m (koẓbǝ́l) Persian: کفتار‎ (fa) (kaftâr) Piedmontese: jen-a f Polish: hiena (pl) f Portuguese: hiena (pt) f Rendille: waraba Romanian: hienă (ro) f, hiene pl Russian: гие́на (ru) f (gijéna) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: хије́на f Roman: hijéna (sh) f Sidamo: goto Slovak: hyena (sk) f Slovene: hijena (sl) f Somali: waraabe Spanish: hiena (es) f Swahili: fisi (sw) class 9/10 Swedish: hyena (sv) c Tagalog: yena Tajik: кафтор (kaftor) Tamil: கழுதைப்புலி (ta) (kaḻutaippuli) Tashelhit: ⵉⴼⵉⵙ m (ifis) Tatar: сыртлан (tt) (sırtlan) Tedaga: zoor Telugu: దుమ్ములగొండి (te) (dummulagoṇḍi) Thai: หมาใน (th) (mǎa-nai), ไฮยีน่า (hai-yii-nâa) Tswana: phiri class 9/10 Turkish: sırtlan (tr) Turkmen: syrtlan Uduk: nyùrúny Ukrainian: гіє́на f (hijéna) Urdu: لکر بگھا‎ m (lakaṛ bagghā) Uyghur: سىرتلان‎ (sirtlan), سرتلان‎ (srtlan) Uzbek: sirtlon (uz) Vietnamese: linh cẩu Volapük: hüen (vo) Walloon: iyinne (wa) f Welsh: udfil m, hiena f Wolof: bukki bi (wo) Yoruba: ìkòrikò, ìkookò, kòrikò Zazaki: keftal Zulu: impisi (zu) class 9/10

See also

• aardwolf (Proteles cristatus)

Anagrams

• Haney, Hayne

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦɪjɛna]

Noun

hyena f

1. hyena (large carnivore)

Declension

Declension of hyena

	singular	plural
nominative	hyena	hyeny
genitive	hyeny	hyen
dative	hyeně	hyenám
accusative	hyenu	hyeny
vocative	hyeno	hyeny
locative	hyeně	hyenách
instrumental	hyenou	hyenami

Related terms

• hyenismus
• hyení

Further reading

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

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Dutch

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦiˈjeːnaː/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hy‧e‧na

Noun

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

1. hyena, any member of the family Hyaenidae

Derived terms

• bruine hyena
• gestreepte hyena
• gevlekte hyena
• hyenahond

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Italian

Noun

hyena f (plural hyene)

1. (obsolete) Alternative spelling of iena

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Swedish

Noun

hyena c

1. a hyena

Declension

Declension of hyena
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	hyena	hyenan	hyenor	hyenorna
Genitive	hyenas	hyenans	hyenors	hyenornas

See also

• hund
• hynda