Added 10 October 2026
prawn
/pɹɔːn/ noun
First recorded: 1400 Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about prawn at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A crustacean of the suborder Dendrobranchiata.
- A crustacean, sometimes confused with shrimp.
-
Synonym of butterface: A woman with an attractive body but an unattractive face.
She's a prawn!
verb
- To fish for prawns.
noun
- Alternative form of porn.
Origin
First attested early 1400s as various Middle English forms prayne, prane, praune, and prawne, which present no clear cognates in languages other than English. The forms suggest a hypothetical Old English form *prægn, where *æg would have evolved into Middle English *ay, but it is unclear if the word is of Germanic origin, from another European language, or loaned from a substrate. In the Isle of Wight, a word prankle ("prawn") is recorded and thought to be related.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)