fen

Everyday

1. A fen is low, flat, wet land, like a marsh, often with reeds and peat. tree →
2. The Fens are a large flat area of eastern England, much of it drained for farming. tree →
3. (Mandarin, pinyin) fēn is a Chinese money unit (one hundredth of a yuan) and a word for «minute» or «points»; it is not an English word in that sense. tree →

In the lessons

Geography and nature lessons about wetlands; history (Hereward the Wake, draining the Fens). Stories set in eerie marshes. Phrases: the Fens, fen land, fenland.

Examples

• The fen was full of reeds and birds. tree →
• Much of the Fens was drained to grow crops. tree →
• Mist rose over the fen at dawn. tree →
• Peat forms in a fen over thousands of years. tree →
• Ely Cathedral stands like a ship above the Fens. tree →
• (Mandarin, pinyin) In China, ten fen make one jiao. tree →
• Over woodland and heath, flood and fen, they flew on, till they reached the wild moor, over which they hovered in broad circles. tree →

Note

Countable. Fenland is the land of fens. A fen is fed by groundwater and less acid than a bog. Names: the Fens (capital F) is a place.

In Jewish tradition

Here it means marshy ground where reeds grow.

Interpretation. It is the habitat of the great beast Behemoth in Job.

Examples

• He lieth under the lotus-trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. (Writings JOB.40.21, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable. Fenland is the land of fens. A fen is fed by groundwater and less acid than a bog. Names: the Fens (capital F) is a place.