a member of any of several Asiatic nomadic peoples speaking Mongolic or Turkic languages who dominated much of Asia and E Europe from before 300 bc, invading the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries ad
2. informal(esp in World War I) a derogatory name for a German (sense 2)
3. informal
a vandal
Derived forms
Hunlike (ˈHunˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
Old English Hūnas, from Late Latin Hūnī, from Turkish Hun-yū
Hun in American English
(hʌn)
noun
1.
a member of a warlike Asian people that, led by Attila and others, invaded E and central Europe in the 4th and 5th cent. a.d.
2. [oftenh-]
any savage or destructive person; vandal
, term of contempt applied to German soldiers, esp. in WWI
Word origin
OE Hune < LL Hunni (pl.) < native name > Chin Hiong-nu, Han