Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🐦 A female bird 🍗 Meat for eating
guinea hen

guinea hen

1 7.5
A female bird with grey spotted feathers like a chicken
  • noun
  • /ˈɡɪni hɛn/
: gallina de Guinea
  • A guinea hen will often be more vocal than her male counterpart.

Examples

  • The farmer raised several guinea hens to help control insects on his property.

  • We watched as the guinea hen led her chicks through the grass.

  • The guinea hen wandered freely in the garden.

  • Many farmers raise guinea hens for their unique eggs.

  • I saw several beautiful guinea hens roaming in the yard during my visit to the farm.

  • The farmer raised guinea hens for their eggs and to keep pests away.

  • After a long day, we enjoyed watching the guinea hens skitter around the backyard.

Synonyms

hen
vsguinea hen
95 1.0

An adult female chicken kept for laying eggs

is the adult female of a specific African species rather than any bird
guinea fowl
vsguinea hen
2 6.5

A farm bird from Africa with dark feathers and white spots, raised for meat and eggs

is specifically the adult female of that species
guinea
vsguinea hen
1 7.9

A bird with dark feathers and white spots often raised for meat

is specifically the adult female within that species
Numida
vsguinea hen
  • Specialized
9.9

An African bird with spotted gray feathers that people keep for meat and eggs

is the adult female of one species in that genus

Surface Forms

guinea hen singular
guinea hens plural

Morphology

guinea + hen

This is a literal, compositional noun: 'guinea' (a type of fowl) combined with 'hen' (an adult female bird) yields a female guinea fowl (or the meat of that bird). A B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings can readily infer this referent, so the expression is transparently built from its parts.

Etymology

Guinea hen comes from a small, spotted bird that people brought to Europe from West Africa. The word guinea points to that region and hen means 'female', so guinea hen refers to a female guinea fowl.