hy·e·na also hy·ae·na (h?-??n?)n. Any of several carnivorous mammals of the family Hyaenidae of Africa and Asia, which feed as scavengers and have powerful jaws, relatively short hind limbs, and coarse hair.[Middle English hiene, hiena, from Old French hiene and Medieval Latin hiena, both from Latin hyaena, from Greek huaina : h?s, hu-, swine (in reference to the hyena’s bristly mane like a hog’s); see s?- in Indo-European roots + -aina, pejorative feminine n. suffix.]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.hyena (ha??i?n?) or hyaenan (Animals) any of several long-legged carnivorous doglike mammals of the genera Hyaena and Crocuta, such as C. crocuta (spotted or laughing hyena), of Africa and S Asia: family Hyaenidae, order Carnivora (carnivores). See also strandwolf[C16: from Medieval Latin, from Latin hyaena, from Greek huaina, from hus hog] hy?enic, hy?aenic adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014hy?e?na (ha??i n?) n., pl. -nas. a large carnivore of the family Hyaenidae, of Africa and S Asia, having a sloping back and large teeth and feeding chiefly on carrion, often in packs. [1350?1400; Middle English hyane, hyene