ENGLISH
REFERENCE

jenny

n. countable
C2 Proficiency US //ˈdʒɛni// UK //dʒˈɛni// jen·ny Informal Slang

n. a female donkey. You might also hear people use this name for a female bird, like a wren.

n. the female of certain animals, most commonly the donkey. When applied to birds, it typically refers to the wren.


SIMPLE

The farmer kept one jenny and two male donkeys.

CONTEXTUAL

While the stallion was restless in the field, the jenny remained calm near the barn door.

COMPLEX

In traditional folk songs, the wren is often personified as Jenny, reflecting a long history of assigning human names to common garden birds.

Synonyms
Origin

From Jen + -y, historically as a hypochoristic form of Janet, Jane, etc. or (rarely) Eugenia, Virginia, etc. but now more often used as a diminutive of Jennifer. Doublet of Ivanka, Jan, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna in derivations from Jane etc. In senses related to inanimate objects, partially derived from the generic senses of Jane and partially an informal pronunciation of engine.

Usage

Often used as a modifier in compound nouns, such as 'jenny wren'.

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