Note: This page may contain content that is offensive or inappropriate for some readers.

Hun

(hŭn)

1. A member of a group of Central Asian nomadic pastoralist peoples who invaded Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries ad and were defeated in 455.

2. often hun A barbarous or destructive person.

3. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a German, especially a German soldier in World War I.

[From Late Latin Hunnī, the Huns, of Central Asian origin; akin to Sogdian xwn, Sanskrit hūṇaḥ, and Middle Chinese xuawŋ-nɔ (source of Mandarin Xiōngnú), a member of various Central Asian peoples or multiethnic confederations that conquered and raided the Eurasian steppes in late antiquity, probably from their self-designation .]

Hun·nic adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Hun

(hʌn)

1. (Peoples) a member of any of several Asiatic nomadic peoples speaking Mongoloid or Turkic languages who dominated much of Asia and E Europe from before 300 bc, invading the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries ad

2. informal (esp in World War I) a derogatory name for a German²

3. informal a vandal

[Old English Hūnas, from Late Latin Hūnī, from Turkish Hun-yū]

ˈHunˌlike adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Hun

(hʌn)

n.

1. a member of a pastoral people of the Eurasian steppes, who in the late 4th century a.d. began a course of alternating conflict and alliance with their Iranian and Germanic neighbors and the Roman Empire: they reached the height of their power in Europe under Attila in the 5th century, and then disappeared from history.

2. (often l.c.) a barbarous, destructive person; vandal.

3. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

a. (a contemptuous term used to refer to a German soldier in World War I or II.)

b. (a contemptuous term used to refer to a German.)

[before 900; singular of Huns, Old English Hūnas; akin to Late Latin Hunnī]

usage: The meanings represented by definitions 3a and 3b, though appearing mostly in historical contexts, are used with disparaging intent and are perceived as highly insulting, since the Germans are likened to the barbarous, warlike, destructive Huns of the 4th and 5th centuries.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Hun - a member of a nomadic people who invaded Europe in the 4th century nomad - a member of a people who have no permanent home but move about according to the seasons
	2.	Hun - offensive term for a person of German descent Boche, Jerry, Kraut, Krauthead derogation, disparagement, depreciation - a communication that belittles somebody or something jargon, lingo, patois, argot, vernacular, slang, cant - a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo" German - a person of German nationality

Translations

hunnisakemanni

Hun

[hʌn] N

1. (Hist) → huno m

2. (pej) (= German) → tudesco m, alemán m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Hun

(Hist) → Hunne m, → Hunnin f

(pej inf) → Teutone m (pej), → Teutonin f (pej), → Boche m (pej)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Hun

[hʌn] n (History) → Unno (offensive) (German) → crucco/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The Hun smiled in his relief, passed a cheery word with his lieutenant, and then scanned the broad plain with his field glasses.

Returning to the rose garden, he stood among the Hun trampled blooms and bushes above the grave of his dead-with bowed head he stood there in a last mute farewell.

View in context

I dare say that I could throw myself over a precipice, like the Hun in the history books, if my courage to do it were questioned, and yet it would surely be pride and fear, rather than courage, which would be my inspiration.

View in context

I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended from Attila and the Huns. This may be so, for when the Magyars conquered the country in the eleventh century they found the Huns settled in it.

View in context

No one but a nation of pirates, of ferocious and conscienceless huns, could have inaugurated such a campaign."

View in context

"Then he would pass through the land of the Almains and the great Roman Empire, and so to the country of the Huns and of the Lithuanian pagans, beyond which lies the great city of Constantine and the kingdom of the unclean followers of Mahmoud."

View in context

The legendary hosts of Goths and Huns, the hugest armies Asia has ever seen, would have been but a drop in that current.

View in context

'Hun Sen first called in the Vietnamese, and now he has called in the Chinese to be the masters of Cambodians, making the Kingdom a Chinese colony.

Rainsy claims independence lost, government calls him 'crazy'

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's official Facebook page was hacked on Monday, Facebook said a day later.

Cambodia PM's page hacked: Facebook

The accounts were named Hun Mannet (Lieutenant General Hun Mannet), Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia, and Hun Manet (of HE Hun Manet).

Cambodia shuts down 'fake' FB accounts

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ket Sophann said Hun Sen had offered to resume cooperation in a letter on Friday to U.S.

Cambodia resumes search effort with US for Vietnam War remains