keen

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English kene (“bold, brave, sharp”), from Old English cēne (“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful, learned, clever, wise”), from Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“knowledgeable, skillful, experienced, clever, capable”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenə-, *ǵnō- (“to know”). Cognate with Scots keen (“lively, brisk, avaricious”), Dutch koen (“daring, valiant, doughty, courageous”), German kühn (“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”), Danish køn (“handsome, pretty”), Icelandic kænn (“wise, crafty, clever, able”). Related to Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). More at cunning, can.

Alternative forms

keene, kene (archaic)

Adjective

keen (comparative keener, superlative keenest)

showing a quick and ardent willingness or responsiveness, enthusiastic, eager; interested, intense.
vehement; fierce; as, a keen appetite.
- (Can we date this quote?), Piers Plowman
  Of full keen will.
- (Can we date this quote?), Shakespeare
  So keen and greedy to confound a man.
sharp; having a fine edge or point.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5:
  That my keen knife see not the wound it makes.
acute of mind; sharp; penetrating; having or expressing mental acuteness.
- (Can we date this quote?), Shakespeare
  To make our wits more keen.
- (Can we date this quote?), Cowper
  Before the keen inquiry of her thought.
bitter; piercing; acrimonious; cutting; stinging; severe; as, keen satire or sarcasm.
- (Can we date this quote?) Shakespeare
  Good father cardinal, cry thou amen to my keen curses.
piercing; penetrating; cutting; sharp; -- applied to cold, wind, etc,; as, a keen wind; the cold is very keen.
- (Can we date this quote?), Goldsmith
  Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes.
(often with "to" + infinitive or with a prepositional phrase) Enthusiastic
I'm keen to learn another language.

I'm keen on learning another language.

I'm keen on languages.

I'm keen about learning languages.

I'm keen for help.

"Do you want to learn another language?" / "I'm keen."
(US, informal, dated) Marvelous.
I just got this peachy keen new dress.
(UK) extremely low as to be competitive.
keen prices
(obsolete) brave, courageous; bold, audacious.

Usage notes

Keen is often used in the composition of words, most of which are of obvious signification; as, keen-edged, keen-eyed, keen-sighted, keen-witted, etc.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

prompt; eager; ardent; sharp; acute; cutting; penetrating; biting; severe; sarcastic; satirical; piercing; shrewd.
See also Wikisaurus:intelligent

Derived terms

Translations

showing a quick and ardent willingness or responsiveness, enthusiastic, eager, interested, intense

German: begeistert (de), eifrig (de), heftig (de), kühn (de), scharf (de)
Macedonian: расположен (mk) (raspóložen) m

Kyrgyz: курч (ky) (kurch) , кескин (ky) (keskin) , катуу (ky) (katu:) , курч (ky) (kurch)
Scottish Gaelic: èasgaidh (gd)
Spanish: entusiasta (es) m, con perspicaz (es) f, fijo (es)
Turkish: düşkün (tr), hevesli (tr), istekli (tr)

vehement; fierce

German: heftig (de), ungestüm (de), vehement (de)

Turkish: ateşli (tr), coşkulu (tr), öfkeli (tr), şiddetli (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

German: begeistert, eifrig, verwegen

Verb

keen (third-person singular simple present keens, present participle keening, simple past and past participle keened)

(transitive, rare) To sharpen; to make cold.
- (Can we date this quote?), Thomson.
  Cold winter keens the brightening flood.

Etymology 2

From Irish caoin (“keen, weep, cry”).

Noun

keen (plural keens)

A prolonged wail for a deceased person.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, chapter 3/5/1, “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days^[1]:
  […] she went so swiftly that he could only follow her to the door. The large shape of the car swallowed her up; and the car twisted softly around the little drive and away to the London road. Minutes later he heard its Klaxon, just one sharp keen, like the harsh cry of a sea-bird.

Verb

keen (third-person singular simple present keens, present participle keening, simple past and past participle keened)

(intransitive) To utter a keen.
- (Can we date this quote?) Stuart Howard-Jones (1904-1974), Hibernia. Collected in The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse, 1978.
  Keen—meaning 'brisk'? Nay, here the Language warps:
  'Tis singing bawdy Ballads to a Corpse.
(transitive) To utter with a loud wailing voice or wordless cry.
- 2001, Mercedes Lackey, Brightly Burning:
  Satiran, lost in his own grief, shuddered once, then lifted his head to the sky and keened out his loss to the heavens.
(transitive) To mourn.
- 1996, Virginia Brodine, Seed of the fire, page 28:
  I keened my Gran, I keened my babies, but then my words poured out of my grief. I don 't have the full heart like that for Owen, sorry as I am for his goin. Without the heavy grief on me I can maybe think of the words easier