feni

• fenim
• fenny

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

feni (usually uncountable, plural fenis)

1. (India) An alcoholic drink made in Goa, India, from fermented cashew apples or coconut toddy (sap).
   • 2003, Paul Harding, Goa, page 71:

     A shot of Indian-made spirits is about Rs 40 to 60 (mixers cost extra) and a shot of feni is Rs 20. […] Goans are keen to offer advice to foreigners; don't drink it on an empty stomach, don't mix it with other spirits, and certainly don't swim after a couple of fenis.

   • 2006, Frank Simoes, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Feni but Were Too Drunk to Ask”, in Jerry Pinto, editor, Reflected in Water: Writings on Goa, page 243:

     The Department of Agriculture's official definition of feni is many soulless removes from its ebullient metaphysics; ‘Feni (the more accurate rendering, as opposed to the Portuguese 'fenim') has achieved the status of a generic term applying to a wide variety of distilled alcoholic liquors derived from extracts of the coconut palm and the cashew fruit.'

   • 2009, Bhaichand Patel, Happy Hours: The Penguin Book of Cocktails, unnumbered page:

     Feni is really country liquor that has risen from its lowly status. […] Whatever claims the Goans may lay to its potency, feni is no stronger than whisky or vodka.

• Enif, Fein, Fine, NiFe, fine, ifen, neif, nief, nife

feni

1. dative singular indefinite of fen

fen (“to sharpen”) +‎ -i (personal suffix)

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛni]
• Hyphenation: fe‧ni
• Rhymes: -ni

feni

1. third-person singular indicative present definite of fen

feni m

1. plural of feno

• Enif, enfi, fine, nife

fēnī

1. genitive singular of fēnum

feni

1. past participle of fenir

• findi (obsolete)

Probably from English find.^[1]

feni

1. to find (to come across, possibly by searching)
   • 1990, Ismene Krishnadath, Lijnen van liefde [Lines of love]‎^[2], 5th edition, Paramaribo: Publishing Services Suriname, published 2011, page 54:

     Datra feni wan kundu na en bobi. A taki kan de na takrusiki. Gitá musu fu go na Blanda fu du a oparasi.

     The doctor found a lump in her breast. He said it could be cancer. Gitá has to go to the Netherlands to have the operation.

   • 1991, Ronald L. Pinas, Sranan kloroeboekoe [Surinamese colouring book]‎^[3], Paramaribo: Instituut voor Taalwetenschap (SIL), page 58:

     Nanka nanga Joeria gwe go onti ini a boesi. Den wani njan legwana meti tide. Den si wan kapelka, wan loiri nanga wan toekanfowroe. Joe kan jepi den foe feni wan legwana?

     [Nanka nanga Yuria gwe go onti ini a busi. Den wani nyan legwanameti tide. Den si wan kapelka, wan loiri nanga wan tukanfowru. Yu kan yepi den fu feni wan legwana?]

     Nanka and Yuria left to go hunting in the jungle. They want to eat iguana meat today. They see a butterfly, a sloth, and a toucan. Can you help them to find an iguana?

2. to encounter
   • 1783, C. L. Schumann, Neger-Englisches Wörterbuch [Negro English Dictionary]‎^[4] (in German), archived from the original on 8 February 2023:

     Ningre findi bun, dem weri langa kamissa

     [Nengre feni bun, den weri langa kamisa]

     Good fortune breeds arrogance.

     (literally, “Blacks who encountered good fortune wear long loincloths.”)

   • 1975, Sonora Paramarera, “Kondre Nomroe Wan”, in Lobi Dee:

     Mi luku a grontapu nanga en gudu / Nowan kondre mi feni pe mi sa tan / Mi kan teigi yu fu tru, mi gudu / Nowan kondre mi lobi leki mi Sranan

     I look at the world and its riches / I find no country where I'll live / I can truly tell you, my darling / I love no country like my Suriname

3. (copula) to consider, to judge

• Aukan: fénde, féni
• Saramaccan: féndi, féni
• → Caribbean Javanese: féni

Borrowed from English fan.

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

feni class IX (plural feni class X)

1. fan (device to cool)

Possibly from an older fani (if not an error), recorded in van der Crab's De Moluksche Eilanden's wordlist (as fanie). Compare Ternate paniki (“bat”) and also Taba nhik.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɸe.n̪i/

feni

1. a bat
2. a flying fox

• fenii

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[5], Pacific linguistics