Wiktionary

gen

See also: Appendix:Variations of "gen"
Languages (31)
English
Catalan • Czech • Danish • Dutch • German • Haitian Creole • Icelandic • Indonesian • Japanese • Malay • Mandarin • Middle English • Mwotlap • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old High German • Old Irish • Old Occitan • Polish • Romanian • Spanish • Swedish • Tok Pisin • Turkish • Vietnamese • Vurës • Welsh • Zhuang • Zou
Page categories

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Clipping of general.

Noun

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gen (uncountable)

  1. (chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Information.
    • 2015, Nicholas Whittaker, Platform Souls: The Trainspotter as 20th-Century Hero:
      Nose around any modest-sized station and the odds are you'll find that the chargeman's office doubles as a bashers' club, a place where shivering spotters can get warm and catch up on the gen.
  2. (birdwatching) Information about the location of a bird.
    • 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 172:
      I had some recent gen that they had been seen quite recently at Kunoth Well, a little dot on the map on the edge of the Tanami Desert.
  3. (fandom slang) Fan fiction that does not specifically focus on romance or sex.
Synonyms
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See also

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Etymology 2

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Noun

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gen (plural gens)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Gen (“member of the Gen Movement”)

Etymology 3

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Shortened from generate and generator.

Verb

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gen (third-person singular simple present gens, present participle genning, simple past and past participle genned)

  1. To generate using an automated process, especially a computer program.
    • 1991, Bruce H. Hunter, Karen Bradford Hunter, UNIX Systems: Advanced Administration and Management Handbook:
      Defining the devices so that they will be genned during the sysgen and installation is the other half.
    • 1993, Debra R. Niedermiller-Chaffins, Drew Heywood, Inside Novell NetWare, →ISBN, page 100:
      The older, genned files are difficult to keep up-to-date and are unsupported for some newer NICs.
    • 2010, Donald K. Burleson, Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference, →ISBN, page 1109:
      As the capacities of the large servers are exceeded, a new server is genned into the RAC cluster.
    • 2012, Robert Charles Wilson, Bios, →ISBN:
      The Turing factories on Isis's small moon had fallen short of productivity goals, though another two factory units had been genned.

Noun

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gen (plural gens)

  1. (slang) A generator (device that converts mechanical to electrical energy).
    Synonym: genny

Etymology 4

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Shortened from genetic engineering

Verb

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gen (third-person singular simple present gens, present participle genning, simple past and past participle genned)

  1. (science fiction) To genetically engineer.
    • 2008, Bart Dahmer, Primal Screams, →ISBN, page 36:
      Samples could be taken from the original, and plans could be made, but genning could not be initiated until death had occurred.
    • 2011, Karen Sandler, Tankborn, →ISBN, page 28:
      Her nurturer ears, genned to be hyper-sensitive, had to be hurting from the noise.

Etymology 5

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Etymology unknown. Possibilities include:

Noun

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gen (plural gens)

  1. (obsolete, UK, slang) A shilling.
    • 1851, Henry Mayhew, “Gambling of Costermongers”, in London Labour and the London Poor‎[1], volume 1, page 17:
      The betting also began to shift. "Sixpence Ned wins!" cried three or four; "Sixpence he loses!" answered another; "Done!" and up went the halfpence. "Half-a-crown Joe loses!"—"Here you are," answered Joe, but he lost again. "I'll try you a 'gen'" (shilling) said a coster; "And a 'rouf yenap'" (fourpence), added the other. "Say a 'exes'" (sixpence).—"Done!" and the betting continued, till the ground was spotted with silver and halfpence.
    • 1978, Rose Ayers, The Street Sparrows:
      "Give me two gen, then, and take the whole bloody tol. I've walked me teef orf afore rouf this mornin', and wot 'ave I got? Two bloody yenneps! I ask yer."

Etymology 6

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Clipping of generation.

Noun

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gen (plural gens)

  1. (informal) A generation (group of people born in a specific range of years).
    • 2022 June 28, “Wimbledon tennis: Fans react to Kristina Mladenovic's eye-catching outfit”, in The New Zealand Herald‎[2]:
      "Mladenovic playing in what the young gen is calling a crop top, but what my gen is calling a bra," Bouchard tweeted. "Sign of the times that Wimbledon has no issue with that. Still can remember the year some had troubles because of 'too short' skirts lol."
    • 2022 July 4, Ben Schott, “Is There Anything That Gen Z Won’t Drink?”, in The Washington Post‎[3]:
      It’s anyone’s guess whether such attitudes will persist into adulthood, but if Gen Z (and the gens to come) do prove more alco-skeptic than their forbears then the above twelve steps are deftly primed to cash in.
  2. (informal, in combination) A specific version of something in a chronological sequence.
    • 2004, Sally Bishai, “Courtship, Marriage and the Ubiquitous ‘Dating Thing’”, in Mid-East Meets West: On Being and Becoming a Modern Arab American, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 57:
      For my fellow first-gens, get ready to hide a smirk, because your life story is likely hidden somewhere in this chapter. For the uninitiated—that is, the person who's never had a thing to do with the Arab way of doing things (namely dating)—I advise you to buckle up.
    • 2016, Dwight Lang, “Witnessing Social Class in the Academy”, in Allison L. Hurst, Sandi Kawecka Nenga, editors, Working in Class: Recognizing How Social Class Shapes Our Academic Work, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, part 2 (Teaching), page 102:
      […] I witness firsthand the difficult "downstream" outcomes (Grusky 2014) of social class stratification in a university setting where approximately 3,400 undergraduates (13% of the undergraduate population) are first in their families to attend and/or graduate from college (first-gens). Most of these students are low income and nearly 1,200 first-gens have grown up in poverty.
    • 2017, Temple Fennell, “SCIE: Sustainable Cycle of Investing Engagement”, in Kirby Rosplock, The Complete Direct Investing Handbook: A Guide for Family Offices, Qualified Purchasers, and Accredited Investors (Bloomberg Financial Series), Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 242:
      The Family Values and Framing Strategy steps address soft issues as what is the purpose of the new investment strategy, is there a desire to engage and train the next generation (Next Gens), and is there building buy-in and engagement across the family members important to strengthen family unity.
Derived terms
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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Catalan Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ca

Etymology

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Borrowed from German Gen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen m (plural gens)

  1. gene
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Further reading

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Czech

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Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

Etymology

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Borrowed from German Gen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen m inan

  1. gene

Declension

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Declension of gen (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative gen geny
genitive genu genů
dative genu genům
accusative gen geny
vocative gene geny
locative genu genech
instrumental genem geny
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Further reading

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  • “gen”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • “gen”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “gen”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

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Etymology 1

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From German Gen, from Ancient Greek γενεά (geneá, “generation, descent”), from the aorist infinitive of γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “I come into being”). Coined by the Danish biologist Wilhelm Ludvig Johannsen in a German-language publication.

Noun

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gen n (singular definite genet, plural indefinite gener)

  1. (genetics) gene
Declension
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Declension of gen
neuter
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative gen genet gener generne
genitive gens genets geners genernes

Etymology 2

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Verb

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gen

  1. imperative of genne

References

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Dutch

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Etymology

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From German Gen, from Ancient Greek γενεά (geneá, “generation, descent”), from the aorist infinitive of γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “I come into being”). Coined by the Danish biologist Wilhelm Ludvig Johannsen in a German-language publication.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen n (plural genen)

  1. gene

Descendants

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  • → Indonesian: gen

Anagrams

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German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German gēn, gein, from gegen with elision of intervocalic -g- (compare Getreide, Maid). Doublet of gegen (“against”). Cognate with Yiddish קיין (keyn).

Pronunciation

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Preposition

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gen [with accusative]

  1. (literary, somewhat dated) in the direction; to; towards (a place or time)
    gen Norden ― to the north, northwards
    gen Abend ― towards the evening, in the late afternoon

Synonyms

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Further reading

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  • “gen” in Duden online
  • “gen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Haitian Creole

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gen

  1. Contraction of genyen.

Icelandic

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Gen.

Noun

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gen n (genitive singular gens, nominative plural gen)

  1. gene

Declension

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Declension of gen (neuter)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative gen genið gen genin
accusative gen genið gen genin
dative geni geninu genum genunum
genitive gens gensins gena genanna

Indonesian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Dutch gen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen (plural gen-gen)

  1. (genetics) gene (a theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms)

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Japanese

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Romanization

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gen

  1. Rōmaji transcription of げん
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ゲン

Malay

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Malay Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ms

Etymology

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Borrowed from Dutch gen (“gene”), from German Gen (which was coined by Danish biologist Wilhelm Ludvig Johannsen in a German-language publication), from Ancient Greek γενεά (geneá, “generation, descent”), from the aorist infinitive of γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “I come into being”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen (plural gen-gen)

  1. gene
    1. (genetics) a theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms; a gene may take several values and in principle predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form (phenotype), such as hair colour.
    2. (molecular biology) locus: a segment of DNA or RNA from a cell's or an organism's genome, that may take several forms and thus parameterizes a phenomenon, in general the structure of a protein.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Mandarin

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Romanization

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gen

  1. Nonstandard spelling of gēn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of gén.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of gěn.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of gèn.

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

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Preposition

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gen

  1. Alternative form of gain (“against”)

Mwotlap

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Etymology

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From Proto-Torres-Banks *ɣani, from Proto-Oceanic *kani, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən, from Proto-Austronesian *kaən. Cognate with Vurës gen.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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gen

  1. to eat (meat, vegetables)
  2. to suffer (s.th. unpleasant)
  3. to acquire (an honorific rank)
  4. (transitive) (fire) to burn s.th.
  5. (intransitive) (fire) to burn

Derived terms

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References

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François, Alexandre. 2025. Online Mwotlap–English–French cultural dictionary. Electronic files. Paris: CNRS. (Pdf version) – entry gen.

Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nb

Noun

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gen n (definite singular genet, indefinite plural gener, definite plural gena or genene)

  1. (biology) a gene

Usage notes

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  • Prior to a revision in 2020, this noun was also considered grammatically masculine.[1] The form genen was then made obsolete.

References

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  1. ^ Language Council of Norway, Spelling decisions since 2012 (in Norwegian, retrieved 12.21.20)

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Noun

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gen n (definite singular genet, indefinite plural gen, definite plural gena)

  1. (biology) a gene

Usage notes

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  • Prior to a revision in 2020, this noun was also considered grammatically masculine.[1] The forms genen, genar, and genane were then made obsolete.

References

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  1. ^ Language Council of Norway, Spelling decisions since 2012 (in Norwegian, retrieved 12.21.20)

Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *ju.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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ġēn

  1. still, yet
  2. again, further

Old High German

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Etymology

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The form gēn appears early on in Bavarian, later spreading to eastern and southern Franconian and to the newly developing East Central German. Its origins are unknown. One theory invokes the original paradigm of Proto-West Germanic *gān, which had *ai in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular of the present; compare Middle Low German gân > he geit, modern Colognian jonn > hä jeiht, etc. The Old High German ē might thus be explained as a compromise vowel between ā and ei. What lends credence to this theory is the fact that Old High German ē cannot have developed regularly in the given position, as it only occurs before h, r, w, and word-finally.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɡeːn/, (early) [ɡɛːn]

Verb

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gēn

  1. Alternative form of gān (“to go”)

Descendants

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See also

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Old Irish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Celtic *gʷenom.

Noun

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gen n or f

  1. smile, laugh
  2. sport, levity
Inflection
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The Dictionary of the Irish Language believes that this was a u-stem, while Matasović disputes this classification since *giun would be expected from such a stem due to raising and u-infection; he declares it an o-stem.[1] All forms except the nominative are unattested.

Neuter o-stem
singular dual plural
nominative genN genN genL, gena
vocative genN genN genL, gena
accusative genN genN genL, gena
genitive ginL gen genN
dative giunL genaib genaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

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gen f

  1. sword
Inflection
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Feminine ā-stem
singular dual plural
nominative genL ginL genaH
vocative genL ginL genaH
accusative ginN ginL genaH
genitive gineH genL genN
dative ginL genaib genaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization

Mutation

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Mutation of gen
radical lenition nasalization
gen gen
pronounced with /ɣ(ʲ)-/ 		ngen

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

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  1. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 146

Old Occitan

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Adjective

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The template Template:pro-adj does not use the parameter(s): 
fpl=gentas
Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

gen m (feminine singular genta, masculine plural gens, feminine plural gentas)

  1. attractive; pleasing; nice; fair; pleasant
    • 12th century, Bernard de Ventadour(Wikisource)
      Lo gens tems de pascor
      The pleasant time of Easter

References

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Internationalism; compare English gene, French gène, German Gen, ultimately from Ancient Greek γενεᾱ́ (geneā́).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen m inan (related adjective genowy)

  1. (genetics) gene (theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms; it may take several values and, in principle, predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form (phenotype), such as hair color)
  2. (literary) gene (trait inherited from ancestors)

Declension

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Declension of gen
singular plural
nominative gen geny
genitive genu genów
dative genowi genom
accusative gen geny
instrumental genem genami
locative genie genach
vocative genie geny
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adverbs
nouns

Further reading

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  • gen in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • gen in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • gen in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin genus. The particle sense is likely to be a calque of English like.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen n (plural genuri)

  1. type, sort, kind
    Synonyms: fel, soi, tip
    ceva de genul (informal) ― something of the sort
  2. (dated) way of being, manner, attitude
  3. genre
  4. (grammar) gender
  5. (sociology) gender
  6. (taxonomy) genus

Declension

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Declension of gen
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative gen genul genuri genurile
genitive-dative gen genului genuri genurilor
vocative genule genurilor

Particle

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gen (colloquial)

  1. Filler word: like.
  2. Precedes a quotation or description: like.

Derived terms

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References

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Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Gen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen m (plural genes)

  1. gene

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Swedish

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Etymology 1

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From Old Norse gegn (“straight, direct”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gen (comparative genare, superlative genast)

  1. gain; short, direct
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Etymology 2

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From German Gen.

Noun

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gen c

  1. gene
Declension
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Declension of gen
nominative genitive
singular indefinite gen gens
definite genen genens
plural indefinite gener geners
definite generna genernas
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References

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Anagrams

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Tok Pisin

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Etymology

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From English again.

Adverb

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gen

  1. again
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 2:21:
      Orait God, Bikpela i mekim man i slip i dai tru. Na taim man i slip yet, God i kisim wanpela bun long banis bilong man na i pasim gen skin bilong dispela hap.
      →New International Version translation

Turkish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Ottoman Turkish كیك (geñ), from Proto-Turkic *kēŋ (“wide, broad”).

Cognate with Yakut киэҥ (kieñ, “wide”), Bashkir киң (kiñ), Kazakh кең (keñ), etc.

Adjective

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gen

  1. (obsolete, dialectal) wide
    Synonym: geniş
    Antonym: dar
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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gen (definite accusative geni, plural genler)

  1. (colloquial) A field that wasn't plowed for several years.

Etymology 3

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Borrowed from French gene.

Noun

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gen (definite accusative geni, plural genler)

  1. (biology) gene
Declension
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Declension of gen
singular plural
nominative gen genler
definite accusative geni genleri
dative gene genlere
locative gende genlerde
ablative genden genlerden
genitive genin genlerin
Possessive forms
nominative
singular plural
1st singular genim genlerim
2nd singular genin genlerin
3rd singular geni genleri
1st plural genimiz genlerimiz
2nd plural geniniz genleriniz
3rd plural genleri genleri
definite accusative
singular plural
1st singular genimi genlerimi
2nd singular genini genlerini
3rd singular genini genlerini
1st plural genimizi genlerimizi
2nd plural geninizi genlerinizi
3rd plural genlerini genlerini
dative
singular plural
1st singular genime genlerime
2nd singular genine genlerine
3rd singular genine genlerine
1st plural genimize genlerimize
2nd plural geninize genlerinize
3rd plural genlerine genlerine
locative
singular plural
1st singular genimde genlerimde
2nd singular geninde genlerinde
3rd singular geninde genlerinde
1st plural genimizde genlerimizde
2nd plural geninizde genlerinizde
3rd plural genlerinde genlerinde
ablative
singular plural
1st singular genimden genlerimden
2nd singular geninden genlerinden
3rd singular geninden genlerinden
1st plural genimizden genlerimizden
2nd plural geninizden genlerinizden
3rd plural genlerinden genlerinden
genitive
singular plural
1st singular genimin genlerimin
2nd singular geninin genlerinin
3rd singular geninin genlerinin
1st plural genimizin genlerimizin
2nd plural geninizin genlerinizin
3rd plural genlerinin genlerinin

Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen

  1. gene

Usage notes

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  • This is one of the rare cases in which a word's pronunciation differs from its spelling.

Derived terms

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Vurës

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Etymology

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From Proto-Torres-Banks *ɣani, from Proto-Oceanic *kani, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kaən, from Proto-Austronesian *kaən.[1] Cognate with Maori kai, Malay makan.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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gen

  1. to eat (foods other than meat)

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Catriona Malau (September 2021) “gen”, in A Dictionary of Vurës, Vanuatu (Asia-Pacific Linguistics), Australian National University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 75

Welsh

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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gen

  1. (colloquial) first/second-person singular of gan

Zhuang

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Etymology

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From Proto-Tai *qeːnᴬ (“arm”). Cognate with Thai แขน (kɛ̌ɛn), Northern Thai ᨡᩯ᩠ᨶ, Lao ແຂນ (khǣn), Lü ᦶᦃᧃ (ẋaen), Tai Dam ꪵꪄꪙ, Shan ၶႅၼ် (khěn).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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gen (1957–1982 spelling gen)

  1. (anatomy) arm

Zou

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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gen

  1. (transitive) to say

References

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  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=gen&oldid=84466894"