Other forms: peahens
A peahen is the female of the bird with the great fanned tail. A peahen and her chicks, the peahen watched, brown as a peahen.
She is plain brown, and the whole extravagance of the male exists for her choice, which is the standard textbook case of sexual selection. Together they are peafowl, and the young are peachicks.
1nounpeahenThe female of the bird with the great fanned tail.
“A brown peahen led her chicks across the lawn of the palace gardens.”
peahen is a bird.
Middle English pehenne is pea, from Latin pavo, a peacock, plus hen.
Middle English
pehenne
English, today
peahen
From Middle English pehenne, equivalent to pea + hen. Compare Icelandic páhæna (“peahen”). See also peacock, peafowl, peachick, etc.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA