chicken
/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.63 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "backyard chickens"
- "barnyard chickens"
- "Some chickens lay eggs almost every day. […] Chickens are kept for their meat, too."
- "With egg prices rising, more people may be shopping for their own backyard chicken flock. But before you build a coop and subscribe to Chicken Whisperer, health experts have a warning: Caring for backyard chickens is not as easy as bringing home a cute new kitten, and keeping chickens can come with a handful of serious health risks, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
- "boneless chicken"
- "tastes like chicken"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *keukô Proto-Germanic *keukô Proto-Germanic *kukkaz Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Germanic *-īnaz Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn? Proto-Germanic *kukkīną? Old English ċicen Middle English chiken English chicken From Middle English chiken (also as chike > English chick), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn (“chicken”), or alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *kukkīn, equivalent to cock + -en. Compare North Frisian schückling (“chicken”), Saterland Frisian Sjuuken (“chicken”), Dutch kuiken (“chick, chicken”), German Low German Küken (“chick”), whence German Küken (“chick”), (elevated, obsolete) German Küchlein (“chick”) and Old Norse kjúklingr (“chicken”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: chiken, ċicen, *kiukīn, *kukkīn
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/
- British English: /ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/
Usage
Inflected Forms
chickens (plural)
more chicken (comparative)
most chicken (superlative)
chickens (present, singular)
chickening (participle, present)
chickened (participle, past)
chickened (past)