Houyhnhnm

English Etymology en Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels as a humorous, en 1 play on the sound made by horses. Pronunciation en /huˈɪn.əm/ /ˈhwɪn.əm/ en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Houyhnhnm.wav Southern England Noun en fiction One of a fictional race of exceptionally civilized creatures, who look exactly like horses, inhabiting the same land as the brutish Yahoos. IV 340–341 341 I retain in my Mind the Lectures and Example of my noble Maſter and the other illuſtrious Houyhnhnms of whom I had ſo long the Honour to be an humble Hearer. en 1878 w:Louisa May Alcott Under the Lilacs 7 "The Squire says you know a good deal about horses, so I suppose you understand the Houyhnhnm language? I'm learning it, and it is very nice," laughed Miss Celia, as Chevalita gave a little whinny and snuffled her nose into Ben's pocket. en February 19, 1995 March 3, 2021 What to Read: Crime https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/19/books/crime-487095.html w:Marilyn Stasio New York Times ”The moment he called me his ‘gentle and reasonable Houyhnhnm,’” an archivist notes, “I should have known that the man was deranged.” https://web.archive.org/web/20150526143946/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/19/books/crime-487095.html 26 May 2015 en January 28, 2014 March 3, 2021 John Gray: Forget everything you know https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/john-gray-forget-everything-you-know-175755.html w:Will Self Independent Certainly the philosopher was not a pessimistic luncheon companion. He consumed his snails and his liver with gusto, he drank two espressos, then he brushed the crumbs from his yellowish corduroy trousers and loped off in the direction of the London Library, leaving me with an impression of twinkling eyes, laughter lines (he whinnies like a donnish Houyhnhnm), and a sensibility genuinely focused on what will happen in the next five minutes - or five years - albeit one steeped in knowledge of the past. https://web.archive.org/web/20251112081156/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/john-gray-forget-everything-you-know-175755.html 12 November 2025 Usage notes For convenience in spelling and reading, sometimes rendered as "Whinnim" or "Whinnem". Further reading en Gulliver's Travels Horses