Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HEN, n. [Sax. hen, henne; G. henne; D. hen; Sw. höna; Dan. höne. In Goth. hana, Sax. han, hana, is a cock; G. hahn; D. haan. In Sw. and Dan. hane is a cock, the male of a fowl, and han is he, the personal pronoun.]

The female of any kind of fowl; but it is particularly applied to the female of the domestic fowl of the gallinaceous kind, or as sometimes called, the barn-door fowl.