hiena

Borrowed from Spanish hiena, from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina).

• IPA^(key): (Navarro-Lapurdian) /hiena/ [hi.e.na]
• IPA^(key): (Southern) /iena/ [i.e.na]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ena, -a
• Hyphenation: hi‧e‧na

hiena anim

1. hyena

• “hiena”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Learned borrowing from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈje.nə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈje.na]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

hiena f (plural hienes)

1. hyena

• “hiena”, 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

hiena f (plural hienas)

1. hyena

hiena f (plural hiene)

1. (obsolete) alternative spelling of iena

Borrowed from Polish hiena, a learned borrowing from Latin hyaena.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxjɛ.na/
• Rhymes: -ɛna
• Syllabification: hie‧na

hiena f

1. hyena (any carnivore of the subfamily Hyaenidae)

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “hiena”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[1]

hienà f (plural hiènos) stress pattern 2

1. hyena

hiena

1. alternative form of hiene

Learned borrowing from Latin hyaena, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina).

• IPA^(key): /ˈxjɛ.na/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛna
• Syllabification: hie‧na

hiena f (related adjective hieni)

1. hyena (any carnivore of the subfamily Hyaenidae)
2. (derogatory, figurative) blackguard, scoundrel (unprincipled, contemptible, and untrustworthy person)

   Synonym: łajdak

• → Kashubian: hiena

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

Learned borrowing from Latin hyaena, borrowed from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (húaina).

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ẽnɐ, -enɐ
• Hyphenation: hi‧e‧na

hiena f (plural hienas)

1. hyena

The gender of this Portuguese zoonym is always feminine: when the gender of the being itself must be specified, hiena-macho for male and hiena-fêmea for female. Here, macho is treated as an undeclinable noun and doesn't necessarily need to agree in gender with the referent, but would change to macha if so.

• “hiena”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “hiena”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): [hiˈena]

hiena f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of hienă

Learned borrowing from Latin hyaena.

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ena
• Syllabification: hie‧na

hiena f (plural hienas)

1. hyena

• “hiena”, 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