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ken

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ken"
Languages (42)
Translingual • English
Afar • Afrikaans • Ao • Basque • Breton • Cimbrian • Dupaningan Agta • Dutch • Finnish • French • Hungarian • Indonesian • Ingrian • Japanese • Kabuverdianu • Kapampangan • Karaim • Karelian • Ladino • Livvi • Ludian • Maguindanao • Mandarin • Maranao • Middle English • Mohawk • North Frisian • Northern Kurdish • Old Frisian • Old Javanese • Papiamentu • Pennsylvania German • Scots • Southern Sierra Miwok • Tok Pisin • Veps • Vietnamese • Yiddish • Yola • Zou
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Translingual

Symbol

ken

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Kenyang.

See also

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English kennen (“to give birth, conceive, generate, beget; to develop (as a fetus), hatch out (of eggs); to sustain, nourish, nurture”), from Old English cennan (“to give birth, conceive, generate, beget”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną.

Verb

ken (third-person singular simple present kens, present participle kenning, simple past and past participle kenned)

  1. (obsolete) To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).
    • 1524, Desiderius Erasmus, translated by Margaret Roper, A Devout Treatise upon the Paternoster:
      To the soul this ghostly bread is the learning and the teaching and the understanding in the commandments of God, wherethrough the soul is kenned and lives.

Etymology 2

Northern English dialects and Scots language from Middle English kennen, from Old English cennan (“make known, declare, acknowledge”) originally “to make known”, causative of cunnan (“to become acquainted with, to know”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, causative of *kunnaną (“be able”), from which comes the verb can.

Cognate with West Frisian kenne (“to know; recognise”), Dutch kennen (“to know”), German kennen (“to know, be acquainted with someone/something”), Norwegian Bokmål kjenne, Norwegian Nynorsk kjenna, Old Norse kenna (“to know, perceive”), Swedish känna (“to know, feel”), Danish kende (“to know”). See also: can, con.

Verb

ken (third-person singular simple present kens, present participle kenning, simple past and past participle kenned or kent)

  1. (transitive, chiefly Scotland) To know, perceive or understand.
    • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
      It was noted by them that kenned best that her cantrips were at their worst when the tides in the Sker Bay ebbed between the hours of twelve and one.
    • 1993, Mike Leigh, Naked (motion picture):
      Johnny: Is your name Maggie? / Maggie: How'd you ken that? / Johnny: It's just a hunch. Are you looking for the, uh, petulant dwarf?
    • 1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 6:
      Ah thought he wis being harsh, flippant and show-oafy, until ah got sae far in. Now ah ken precisely what the cunt meant.
  2. (obsolete, chiefly Scotland) To discover by sight; to catch sight of; to descry.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From a nautical abbreviation of Middle English kenning, present participle of the verb kennen (“to make known, point out, reveal; to direct, instruct, teach; to know, perceive”).

Noun

ken (uncountable)

  1. Range of perception.
    • 1909, Joseph Conrad, The Secret Sharer Chapter 1:
      I had somehow the impression that he was on the point of letting go the ladder to swim away beyond my ken.
  2. Knowledge, perception, or sight.
    • 1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “That Church-governement is Prescrib’d in the Gospell, and that to Say Otherwise is Unsound”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 4:
      So far is it from the kenne of theſe wretched projectors of ours that beſcraull their Pamflets every day with new formes of government for our Church.
    • 1913, Louise Jopling, Poems:
      Within our ken / The Nightingale—ah! Love, the Nightingale! / Her tender sweetness made our cheeks grow pale,
    • 1957, United States Congressional serial set, number 11976:
      These people, these 20 or 25, were in my ken. Senator Jenner. In his what? Mr. Greenglass. My ken, my line of vision, my knowledge.
    • 1977, Roulhac Toledano, Sally Kittredge Evans, The Esplanade Ridge:
      On this occasion, I wrote to them: "Two more modest and deserving people than you are not in our ken; and it is but fitting that you receive this, preservation's most prestigious prize, for your selfless devotion to the cause through the years.
    • 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
      Though he was out in the streets and away from the Firm and the Firm's ken, though he had work to do and action to relieve him, he was angry.
    • 1999, Catherine Z. Elgin, Considered Judgment:
      Since nothing in our ken differentiates knowledge from luck, something beyond our ken is introduced to do so. But the conviction that we know something is small comfort when coupled with the realization that we cannot tell what.
    • 2012, Keith McCarthy, Nor All Your Tears:
      I couldn't see the funny side myself, but Tristan could; after a while he could hardly control his merriment, in fact, so that he collapsed back on the bed, continuing to chortle, more of his rather unpleasant teeth making an unwelcome appearance in my ken.
    • 2015, Brian Bates, The Real Middle Earth:
      It was an intelligence beyond human ken but integral to everything, perhaps most like the Great Tao of Eastern philosophy of the same period, and it flowed like a European form of Chinese chi.
  3. (nautical) Range of sight.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 59-60:
      At once as far as Angels kenn he views / The dismal Situation waste and wilde […]
Usage notes

In common usage a fossil word, found only in phrases such as beyond one’s ken and swim into one’s ken.

Coordinate terms
  • (nautical range of sight): offing
Derived terms
Translations
References

Etymology 4

Of unknown origin. Perhaps from kennel.

Alternative forms

Noun

ken (plural kens)

  1. (slang, UK, regional, thieves' cant) A house, especially a den of thieves.
    • 1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton‎, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:
      Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.
    • 1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman‎, page 383:
      Ah, Bess, my covess, strike me blind if my sees don't tout your bingo muns in spite of the darkmans. Egad, you carry a bene blink aloft. Come to the ken alone—no! my blowen; did not I tell you I should bring a pater cove, to chop up the whiners for Dawson?
    • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 351:
      Up she goes to any likely ken, where she knows there are women that are married or expect to get married, and commences begging.
Derived terms

Etymology 5

From Hebrew קֵן (“nest”).

Noun

ken (plural kenim)

  1. (Judaism) Youth or children's group.
    • 2016 January 15, Dan Pine, “Hike, swim, fix the world: Kids mix it up at Gilboa camp”, in The Jewish News of Northern California‎:
      Gilboa and Habonim Dror also run year-round programming, holding regional reunions (called kenim) up and down the state
    • 2018 October 6, Meital Shapiro, “What It's Like to Be a Socialist Zionist in the U.S.”, in Israel News‎:
      Gavriella: At an annual movement conference. I went for the first time, and we proposed creating new kenim [branches] and it was approved, which is amazing!
    • 2007, David Gur, דוד גור, Eli Netser, Brothers for Resistance and Rescue, page 87:
      At the beginning of 1944 he was sent to Debreccen to operate the local ken and to organize self-defense.

Etymology 6

From Japanese 間.

Noun

ken (plural kens or ken)

  1. A Japanese unit of length equal to six shakus.

Etymology 7

From Japanese 剣.

Noun

ken (plural ken)

  1. The tsurugi (type of sword).

See also

Anagrams

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Afar

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈken/ [ˈkɛn]
  • Hyphenation: ken

Pronoun

kén (predicative kéeni)

  1. they, them

See also

More information 1st person, 2nd person ...

Determiner

kén

  1. their

See also

More information 1st person, 2nd person ...

References

  • E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “ken”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
  • Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015), L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Dutch kin, from Middle Dutch kinne, from Old Dutch kinni, from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus.

Noun

ken (plural kenne)

  1. chin
Alternative forms

Etymology 2

From Dutch kennen.

Verb

ken (present ken, present participle kennende, past participle geken)

  1. (transitive) To know (a person, a thing), be acquainted with
Derived terms
  • te kenne
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Ao

Etymology

From Proto-Central Naga *khən, of unclear further etymology.

Noun

ken

  1. (Chungli) song

Further reading

  • Bruhn, Daniel Wayne (2014), A Phonological Reconstruction of Proto-Central Naga‎, Berkeley: University of California, page 230
  • Gowda, K. S. Gurubasave (1985), Ao-English-Hindi Dictionary, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, page 24
  • Clark, Mary M. (1893), Ao Naga grammar with illustrative phrases and vocabulary, Molung: Assam Secretariat Printing Office, page 162
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Basque

Noun

ken

  1. genitive plural of ka

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *ken, from Proto-Celtic *kina (“on this side of”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“this, here”).

Adverb

ken

  1. exclamative adverb
    ken (bras) ― so (big)
  2. equality adverb
    (n'eo ket) ken (bras ha me) ― (he/she is not) so (big as me)
  3. negative adverb
    (n'ouzon ket) ken
    (I don't know) any more

Cimbrian

Etymology 1

From Middle High German kemen, quemen, from Old High German kweman, from Proto-West Germanic *kweman, from Proto-Germanic *kwemaną. Cognate with German kommen, English come.

Verb

ken (strong)

  1. (Tredici Comuni) to come
Alternative forms

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Conjunction

ken

  1. than
    Synonyms: dan, bèdar, kédar

Further reading

  • “ken” in Martalar, Umberto Martello; Bellotto, Alfonso (1974), Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo
  • Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien
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Dupaningan Agta

Noun

ken

  1. skirt

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

ken

  1. inflection of kennen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

Anagrams

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognate with Ter Sami kie, Erzya ки (ki), кие (kije), Udmurt кин (kin) and Hungarian ki.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈken/, [ˈk̟e̞n]
  • Rhymes: -en
  • Syllabification(key): ken
  • Hyphenation(key): ken

Pronoun

ken

  1. (interrogative, dated) who; (when followed by a modifier in the elative case) which one (of)
  2. (indefinite, dated) whoever

Usage notes

  • Ken is old-fashioned or poetic in tone (or dialectal), yet its inflected forms are common and standard. See the usage notes under kuka.
  • The traditional distribution of ken as a nominative singular form is as follows:
More information Dialectal distribution of ...

Inflection

See kuka.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

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French

Etymology

Clipping of kéni, the verlan form of niquer.

Pronunciation

Verb

ken

  1. (vulgar, Verlan) synonym of niquer
    • 2017, “Je m’isole”, in Dans l’arène, performed by Djadja & Dinaz:
      J'sais même plus laquelle j'ai ken, j'sais qu'elle kiffe la dégaine
      I don't remember which one I screwed, I know she loves the way of looking.
    • 2023, Greta Gerwig, director, Barbie (French film poster):
      Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c’est juste Ken.
      She can do anything. He’s just Ken.
      This tagline on the French poster for the film Barbie went viral as it was thought to be a pun on Lui sait juste ken (“He only knows how to fuck”).

Usage notes

Only used as infinitive or past participle.

Hungarian

Indonesian

Ingrian

Japanese

Kabuverdianu

Kapampangan

Karaim

Karelian

Ladino

Livvi

Ludian

Maguindanao

Mandarin

Maranao

Middle English

Mohawk

North Frisian

Northern Kurdish

Old Frisian

Old Javanese

Papiamentu

Pennsylvania German

Scots

Southern Sierra Miwok

Tok Pisin

Veps

Vietnamese

Yiddish

Yola

Zou

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