hoon

Meanings

Noun

• A worthless person; a hooligan or lout.
• A pimp.
• A person who drives excessively quickly, loudly or irresponsibly; a street drag racer often driving heavily customized cars.
• An attempt or go at something.
• A unit of weight (about 0.378125 of a gram, or 0.0133 of an ounce) used to measure opium in British-controlled parts of Asia; a candareen.
• A pagoda, a type of gold coin.

Verb

• To act loutishly; specifically, to drive excessively quickly, loudly or irresponsibly.
• To make a hooting or howling sound.

Origin

• Origin uncertain; used initially as a general term of abuse. It first appeared in print in Capricornia (1938) by Australian writer Xavier Herbert (1901–1984); in a 1941 letter Herbert stated he had heard the term in his youth.
• Origin unknown; perhaps imitative.
• Borrowed from Min Nan 分 (Mandarin 分). fen.
• Borrowed from Hindi हून ("pagoda, a gold coin of Southern India"), from .