Warrens

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A network of interconnected tunnels or burrows used primarily by small animals for habitation and nesting
2. A system of complex passages that provide shelter, often associated with rabbits or similar creatures, in a natural environment
3. An arrangement of numerous small, interconnected spaces, typically referencing animal dens or habitations in a crowded setting

Etymology: The plural "warrens" is simply the plural of "warren," so the story belongs to the singular. Medieval England used "warren" for a game-park: an enclosed tract where rabbits or hares were kept and protected for hunting, a privilege that a lord had to obtain from the Crown. The word reached English from Anglo-Norman and Old Northern French "warenne," which descends from Old French "guarenne" and "garenne," meaning the same thing. Scholars trace the underlying root to a Frankish or Germanic verb meaning "ward off" or "defend against," which fits the idea of land walled off and guarded. A rival theory links it to a Gaulish word for an enclosed area, built from a root meaning "stick" or "post." Nobody has settled which is right, so the enclosure itself, not the animals, is the older core of the meaning. Over time the sense shifted from the protected enclosure to the animals living in it, and then to the burrows where rabbits lived. That burrow sense gave rise to the modern figurative use for a crowded, maze-like cluster of rooms or streets.

Synonyms: burrows, tunnels