hinny

C2+ Topic:Animals

US /ˈhɪni/ UK /ˈhɪni/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey

A hinny is generally smaller and rarer than a mule.

Thesaurus

Word family

Related forms mule

Simplified etymology

Hinny, recorded from the late 17th century, comes from Latin hinnus. It is the technical name for the offspring of a female donkey and a stallion.

Etymology

From Latin hinnus ('mule, hinny'), from Ancient Greek innos or ginnos ('a small mule'), of uncertain ultimate origin.

hinnus Latin ἵννος Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# hinny

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɪni/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɪni/

## Meanings
1. the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey

## Examples
- A hinny is generally smaller and rarer than a mule.

## Related Forms
- mule

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hinnus
- Root: ἵννος

## Etymology
From Latin hinnus ('mule, hinny'), from Ancient Greek innos or ginnos ('a small mule'), of uncertain ultimate origin.

## AI Etymology
hinny comes from Latin hinnus ('mule, hinny'), from Ancient Greek innos or ginnos ('a small mule'), of uncertain ultimate origin. The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. The etymology remains cautious where the history is cautious: comparisons, echoic formation, or disputed derivation do not make the ancestry more definite than the forms actually named. In present English, the noun sense is "the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as mule. The named historical forms include Latin hinnus and Ancient Greek ἵννος.

## Topics
- Animals
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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