Warren

How to spell warren

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce warren

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does warren mean?

1. nounA network of interconnected underground tunnels and burrows where rabbits live and breed.
2. nounA densely packed, mazelike network of narrow passages, rooms, or streets.

Warren in a sentence

• The field was riddled with holes leading down into a rabbit warren.

• The old hospital was a confusing warren of corridors and stairwells.

• Foxes often hunt near the entrance to a warren at dusk.

• Tourists got lost in the medieval town's warren of cobbled alleys.

Where does warren come from?

Language of origin: French

Warren came into English in the 1300s from Anglo-Norman warenne and Old North French warenne, meaning a piece of land set aside and protected for breeding game such as rabbits and hares. That word traces back to a Germanic root meaning 'to guard' or 'to keep safe', the same family that gave us 'warden' and 'guarantee', because a warren was originally land where game was legally protected from poachers. Over time the sense narrowed from the protected estate to the dense maze of rabbit burrows found on such land, and from there it stretched figuratively to any crowded, mazelike network of passages or rooms. The double r and the unstressed -en ending are the spelling traps, since the final syllable sounds like a faint 'un' and tempts writers toward -in or -on. The guarding sense is worth remembering: a warren was something kept and protected, which links it back to its 'warden' cousin.

How the word is built

• warr- (from Anglo-Norman warenne: an enclosed preserve for game)
• -en