Hinnies
/ˈhɪniz/noun
Plural of hinny, a hybrid offspring of a male horse and a female donkey.
Did you know?Hinny is not a magical creature name, but an actual biological term for a horse-donkey hybrid, and its name is likely a back-formation from the older word donkey’s counterpart, jenny, through folk naming patterns around mules.
Etymological Timeline
Modern English
English
hinnies
“Plural of hinny, meaning a horse-donkey hybrid offspring.”
16th–17th Century
English
hinny
“A hybrid offspring of a male horse and a female ass.”
16th Century
English
jenny
“A female donkey; later used in animal-hybrid naming.”
Old English
English
asse
“A donkey or ass.”
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₃éḱwos
“Horse.”