gen

Abbreviation of English Geman Deng.

gen

1. (international standards, obsolete) Former ISO 639-3 language code for Geman Deng.

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛn/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Homophones: Jen, Gen
• Rhymes: -ɛn

Clipping of general.

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.

• (fan fiction): genfic

gen (not comparable)

1. general

• genned in
• gen up

gen (plural gens)

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

Shortened from generate and generator.

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.

   genned with a LLM

   • 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.

gen (plural gens)

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

   Synonym: genny

Shortened from genetic engineering

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 unknown. Possibilities include:

• Clipping of argent
• Clipping of generalise, from back slang for English shilling.

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."

Clipping of generation.

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.

gen (not comparable)

1. (Internet slang) Clipping of genuinely.

• Neg, ENG, neg, Eng., eng, neg., eng., NGE, /neg, NEG

Borrowed from German Gen.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒɛn]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒen]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

gen m (plural gens)

1. gene

• “gen” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “gen” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “gen”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “gen”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

From Proto-Brythonic *gen, from Proto-Celtic *genus, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus. Cognate with Gaulish gena, Irish gion, and Welsh gên.

gen f (dual diwen, plural genyow)

1. jaw

See gans.

gen

1. (Revived Late Cornish) alternative form of gans (“with”)

Borrowed from German Gen.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡɛn]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gen
• Rhymes: -ɛn

gen m inan

1. gene

• “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), 2008–2026

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.

gen n (singular definite genet, plural indefinite gener)

1. (genetics) gene

gen

1. imperative of genne

• “gen” in Den Danske Ordbog

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.

• IPA^(key): /ɣɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

gen n (plural genen, no diminutive)

1. gene

• → Indonesian: gen

• eng

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).

• IPA^(key): /ɡeːn/, /ɡɛn/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Homophones: gehn, Gen (according to the first pronunciation)

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

   • 1851, Heinrich Heine, “Nachwort”, in Romanzero‎^[4], Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe:

     […] das tönende Grab des Zauberers Merlinus, welches sich im Walde Brozeliand in der Bretagne befindet, unter hohen Eichen, deren Wipfel wie grüne Flammen gen Himmel lodern.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• (in) Richtung (place); gegen (time)

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

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛ̃/

gen

1. contraction of genyen

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[5], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 74

Borrowed from German Gen.

gen n (genitive singular gens, nominative plural gen)

1. gene

Borrowed from Dutch gen.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɛn/ [ˈɡen]
• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Syllabification: gen

gen (plural gen-gen)

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

• “gen”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

gen m

1. alternative form of gen.: abbreviation of gennaio (“January”)

   Coordinate terms: feb, mar, apr, mag, giu, lug, ago, set, ott, nov, dic

gen

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

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”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡen/
• Rhymes: -en

gen (plural gen-gen or gen²)

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.

• "gen" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

gen

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

• 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.

gen

1. alternative form of gain (“against”)

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

• IPA^(key): /ɣɛn/

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

• gengen

François, Alexandre. 2026. Online Mwotlap–English–French cultural dictionary. Electronic files. Paris: CNRS (Pdf version). – entry gen.

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

1. (biology) a gene

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

• “gen” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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

1. (biology) a gene

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

• “gen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *ju.

• IPA^(key): /jeːn/

ġēn

1. still, yet

At least partly, a variant of ġēan

• IPA^(key): /jeːn/

ġēn

1. again, further

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gagniz (“near, close”), see *gagin.

• IPA^(key): /jeːn/

ġēn

1. short, direct, near (in distance)

• Vladimir Orel (2003), “*ʒaʒniz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[6], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 122
• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “gén”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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 *ai becomes ē only before h, r, w, and word-finally.

• IPA^(key): /ɡeːn/, (early) [ɡɛːn]

gēn

1. alternative form of gān (“to go”)

• Middle High German: gēn
  • German: gehen, gehn

• stēn

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʲen/

From Proto-Celtic *gʷenom.

gen n or f

1. smile, laugh
2. sport, levity

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.

• gentraige

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

gen f

1. sword

fpl=gentas

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

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “genitus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 4: G H I, page 103

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɛn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Syllabification: gen
• Homophone: -gen

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)

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

Borrowed from Latin genus. The particle sense is likely to be a semantic loan from English like.

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒen/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -en

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

gen (colloquial)

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

• fi gen

• “gen”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Borrowed from German Gen.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxen/ [ˈxẽn]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -en
• Syllabification: gen

gen m (plural genes)

1. gene

• “gen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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

• IPA^(key): /jeːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

gen (comparative genare, superlative genast)

1. gain; short, direct

• gena
• genväg
• framgent

From German Gen.

gen c

1. gene

• genetik
• genetisk
• genom

• gen in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• gen in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• gen in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• eng.

From English again.

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

• IPA^(key): /ɟæn/

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

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

gen

1. (obsolete, dialectal) wide

   Synonym: geniş

   Antonym: dar

• genel
• genleşmek

gen (definite accusative geni, plural genler)

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

Borrowed from French gene.

gen (definite accusative geni, plural genler)

1. (biology) gene

Borrowed from French gène.

• gien

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zɛn˧˧], [ɣɛn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jɛŋ˧˧], [ɣɛŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [jɛŋ˧˧], [ɣɛŋ˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: gien, ghen

gen

1. gene

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

Borrowed from English gen, or English gen AI.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zɛn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jɛŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [jɛŋ˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: gien

gen

1. (neologism) to generate something using a generative AI

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

• IPA^(key): /ɣɛn/

gen

1. to eat (foods other than meat)

• gengen

• gennyf, gin

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛn/

gen

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

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).

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /keːn˨˦/
• Tone numbers: gen¹
• Hyphenation: gen

gen (1957–1982 spelling gen)

1. (anatomy) arm

• IPA^(key): /ɡen˧/

gen

1. (transitive) to say

• Chungkham Yashawanta Singh; Lukram Himmat (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41