den
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den¹
- /ˈdɛn/ Canada, US, UK
- /ˈdɪ̟n/
Sounds like din (pin–pen merger) · Rhymes with -ɛn
Where it comes from
From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow, den, cave, attic”), Dutch den (“ship's deck, threshing-floor, mountain floor”), Middle Low German denne, danne (“threshing-floor, small dale”), German Tenne (“threshing-floor, barn for threshing”).
noun dens
-
A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.
a den of robbers
Similar: lair, luster, Wiktionary appendix of animal terms, including their homes
- A squalid or wretched place; a haunt. a den of vice
-
A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining.
Near-synonyms: family room, sunroom, Florida room, Arizona room, rec room, playroom
Similar: family room, sunroom, Florida room, Arizona room, rec room, playroom
-
Synonym of fort (“structure improvised from furniture, etc. for playing games.”).
Our little girls love using bedsheets and other stuff around the house to make dens in the living room and pretending they're on adventures.
Similar: fort
- A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell. I have made several visits of late to the Den of Rubislaw
- A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together.
verb dens · denning · denned
- To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den.
- Of an animal, to use as a den; to take up residence in. Although present in virtually all habitats, it preferred to den in caves, so its distribution, especially in cold, northern areas, may have been limited to limestone and other rocky regions where caves form.
den²
Where it comes from
From Old French denier, from Latin denarius.
noun
- Abbreviation of denier (a unit of weight).
den³
noun dens
- Alternative form of dene
den⁴
adverb
- Pronunciation spelling of then, representing AAVE, Bermuda English.
Den⁵
Where it comes from
Shortening.
proper noun
- A diminutive of the male given name Dennis.
DEN⁶
proper noun
- Abbreviation of Denver
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: lair, hideout, hideaway, cave, burrow, burrowing, hibernaculum, parlour, climate, court, crib, parlor, heeling, dey, room, salon
Translations
Every language
noun living room of a house
| Español | gabinete |
|---|---|
| Français | salon |
| Deutsch | Wohnzimmer |
| Italiano | salotto |
noun home of certain animals
| Español | madriguera, cubil, guarida |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 굴 gul, 소굴 sogul |
| 日本語 | 巣窟 sōkutsu |
| 中文 | 巢穴 cháoxué, 獸穴 /兽穴 shòuxué, 獸窟 /兽窟 shòukū, 獸窩 /兽窝 shòuwō |
| हिन्दी | मांद mānd |
| Português | toca, cova |
| Français | antre, tanière, repaire |
| Deutsch | Höhle, Bau |
| Italiano | covo, tana |
| Română | vizuină |
| Русский | нора́ norá, ло́гово lógovo, берло́га berlóga, ло́говище lógovišče |
| Tiếng Việt | hang |
| العربية | عَرِين ʕarīn, جُحْر juḥr, عُشّ ʕušš |
| עברית | מְחִילָה mekhilá, גּוֹב gov, גֹּב gov |
Talk about this word "den." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/den. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. den. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/den "den." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/den.Cite this
@misc{den_2026,
title = {den},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/den},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
