noun / adjective / verb

chicken

CHIK-in/ˈtʃɪkɪn/

A domesticated fowl raised for eggs or meat.

The chicken stands beside a straw nest holding several eggs.

A domestic hen standing beside a shallow straw nest containing eggs, clearly showing the familiar living farm bird.

Etymology

chickenOld Englishyoung bird, young domestic hen

Old English cicen named a young domestic hen or the young of any bird. The meaning expanded to domestic chickens of any age, turning a name for the young into the general bird name.

In context

Atlas Pro3:43

And our domestication of the chicken has made it the most populous bird on the planet, with 2.5 chickens for every human on Earth.

The Geography of Livestock

More examples

She served chicken with rice for dinner.
He is too chicken to enter the dark cave alone.
She chickened out just before the jump.

Forms

chicken · chickens · chickened · chickening

chick noun — A young bird, especially a chicken