Behn (b?n, b?n), Aphra or Ayfara 1640-1689. British writer of plays, poetry, and fiction who was one of the first professional women authors in English. Her best-known work is the prose fiction Oroonoko (1688).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.