ken
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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.
VerbEdit
ken (third-person singular simple present kens, present participle kenning, simple past and past participle kenned)
- (obsolete) To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).
- 1524, Margaret Roper (translator), A Devout Treatise upon the Paternoster, Desiderius Erasmus
- 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.
- 1524, Margaret Roper (translator), A Devout Treatise upon the Paternoster, Desiderius Erasmus
Etymology 2Edit
Northern and Scottish dialects 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.
The noun meaning “range of sight” is a nautical abbreviation of present participle kenning.
VerbEdit
ken (third-person singular simple present kens, present participle kenning, simple past and past participle kenned or kent)
- (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:
- 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.
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- (obsolete, chiefly Scotland) To discover by sight; to catch sight of; to descry.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene v], line 14:
- 'Tis he. I ken the manner of his gate, / He riſes on the toe:
- 1662, Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Dialogue 2:
- I proposed to the Mariners, that it would be of great benefit in Navigation to make use of [the telescope] upon the round-top of a ship, to discover and kenne Vessels afar off.
- 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, OCLC 79426475, Act I, scene v, page 1:
- We ken them from afar.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
NounEdit
ken (uncountable)
- 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 4610908, 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.
- 1957, United States Congressional serial set - Issue 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.
- (nautical) Range of sight.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 59-60:
- At once as far as Angels kenn he views / The dismal Situation waste and wilde […]
Usage notesEdit
In common usage a fossil word, found only in phrases such as beyond one’s ken and swim into one’s ken.
Coordinate termsEdit
- (nautical range of sight): offing
TranslationsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
- Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
- A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896, [1]
- Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
- “ken”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989, →ISBN.
Etymology 3Edit
Perhaps from kennel.
NounEdit
ken (plural kens)
- (slang, UK, obsolete, thieves' cant) A house, especially a den of thieves.
- 1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Bullen, Arthur Henry, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton[3], 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[4], 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 termsEdit
- boozing ken (“pub”)
- bousing ken (“pub”)
- dunniken (“outhouse”)
- queer ken (“prison”)
- spellken (“theatre”)
- wapping ken (“brothel”)
Etymology 4Edit
NounEdit
ken (plural kenim)
- (Jewish) 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[5]:
- 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[6]:
- 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 5Edit
NounEdit
ken (plural kens or ken)
Etymology 6Edit
NounEdit
ken (plural ken)
- The tsurugi
AnagramsEdit
AfarEdit
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
kén (predicative kéeni)
See alsoEdit
DeterminerEdit
kén
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- 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)[7], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)
AfrikaansEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Dutch kin, from Middle Dutch kinne, from Old Dutch kinni, from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus.
NounEdit
ken (plural kenne)
Alternative formsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
ken (present ken, present participle kennende, past participle geken)
- (transitive) To know (a person, a thing), be acquainted with
Derived termsEdit
BasqueEdit
NounEdit
ken
BretonEdit
AdverbEdit
ken
- exclamative adverb
- ken (bras) ― so (big)
- equality adverb
- (n'eo ket) ken (bras ha me) ― (he/she is not) so (big as me)
- negative adverb
- (n'ouzon ket) ken
- (I don't know) any more
CimbrianEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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.
VerbEdit
ken (strong)
- (Tredici Comuni) to come
Alternative formsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
ConjunctionEdit
ken
Further readingEdit
- “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
Dupaningan AgtaEdit
NounEdit
ken
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
ken
AnagramsEdit
FinnishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognate with Ter Sami kie, Erzya ки (ki), кие (kije), Udmurt кин (kin) and Hungarian ki.
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
ken
- (interrogative, dated) who; (when followed by a modifier in elative case, -sta/-stä) which one (of + a noun referring to people).
- (indefinite, dated) whoever.
Usage notesEdit
- Ken is old-fashioned or poetic in tone (or dialectal), yet its inflected forms are common and standard. See the usage notes under kuka.
InflectionEdit
- See kuka.
SynonymsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Clipping of kéni, the verlan form of niquer.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
ken
- (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.
Usage notesEdit
Only used as infinitive or past participle.
HungarianEdit
EtymologyEdit
Of unknown origin.[1]
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
ken
- (transitive) to smear
ConjugationEdit
1st person sg | 2nd person sg informal |
3rd person sg, 2nd p. sg formal |
1st person pl | 2nd person pl informal |
3rd person pl, 2nd p. pl formal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative mood |
Present | Indef. | kenek | kensz | ken | kenünk | kentek | kennek |
Def. | kenem | kened | keni | kenjük | kenitek | kenik | ||
2nd-p. o. | kenlek | ― | ||||||
Past | Indef. | kentem | kentél | kent | kentünk | kentetek | kentek | |
Def. | kentem | kented | kente | kentük | kentétek | kenték | ||
2nd-p. o. | kentelek | ― | ||||||
Conditional mood |
Present | Indef. | kennék | kennél | kenne | kennénk | kennétek | kennének |
Def. | kenném | kennéd | kenné | kennénk (or kennők) |
kennétek | kennék | ||
2nd-p. o. | kennélek | ― | ||||||
Subjunctive mood |
Present | Indef. | kenjek | kenj or kenjél |
kenjen | kenjünk | kenjetek | kenjenek |
Def. | kenjem | kend or kenjed |
kenje | kenjük | kenjétek | kenjék | ||
2nd-p. o. | kenjelek | ― | ||||||
Infinitive | kenni | kennem | kenned | kennie | kennünk | kennetek | kenniük | |
Other nonfinite verb forms |
Verbal noun | Present participle | Past participle | Future part. | Adverbial part. | Potential | ||
kenés | kenő | kent | kenendő | kenve | kenhet |
Derived termsEdit
(With verbal prefixes):
ReferencesEdit
- ^ ken in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)
Further readingEdit
- ken in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
IndonesianEdit
Etymology 1Edit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ken
- honorific for male and female children.
Etymology 2Edit
From Japanese 拳 (けん, ken, “fist”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ken
- fist.
Further readingEdit
- “ken” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
IngrianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognates include Finnish ken and Estonian kes.
PronunciationEdit
- (Ala-Laukaa) IPA(key): /ˈken/, [ˈke̞n]
- (Soikkola) IPA(key): /ˈken/, [ˈke̞n]
- Rhymes: -en
- Hyphenation: ken
PronounEdit
ken
- (interrogative) who?
- 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva:
- Ken se ono, arvaa!
- Who is it, guess!
- (indefinite) whoever
- 1936, L. G. Terehova; V. G. Erdeli, Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, transl., Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 6:
- Ken arvajaa matkapoolen itsest - „oikiaa“, „kurraa“, „ettee“, „takkaa“, - se kiiree öksyy veerahas paikaas.
- Whoever determines the direction of a journey from oneself - „to the right“, „to the left“, „forward“, „backward“, - that [person] will quickly get lost in an unfamiliar location.
- (relative) who, that
DeclensionEdit
Declension of ken | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | ken | ket |
genitive | kenen | |
partitive | ketä | |
illative | kehe | |
inessive | kes | |
elative | kest | |
allative | kelle | |
adessive | kel | |
ablative | kelt | |
translative | keks | |
essive | kenennä | |
*) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) |
Derived termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- V. I. Junus (1936) Iƶoran Keelen Grammatikka[8], Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 100
- Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 152
JapaneseEdit
RomanizationEdit
ken
KabuverdianuEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Portuguese quem.
PronounEdit
ken
KarelianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognates include Finnish ken and Ingrian ken.
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
ken
- who?
DeclensionEdit
ReferencesEdit
- P. M. Zaykov (1999) Грамматика Карельского языка (фонетика и морфология) [Grammar of the Karelian language (phonetics and morphology)], →ISBN, page 60
LadinoEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin quĕm, accusative of qui.
PronounEdit
ken (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קיין)
LivviEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognates include Karelian ken and Ingrian ken.
PronunciationEdit
PronounEdit
ken
- who?
- Ken hyö ollah? ― Who are they?
ReferencesEdit
- N. Gilojeva; S. Rudakova (2009) Karjalan kielen Livvin murdehen algukursu [Beginners' course of Karelian language's Livvi dialect] (in Livvi), Petrozavodsk, →ISBN, page 10
- Tatjana Boiko (2019) Suuri Karjal-Venʹalaine Sanakniigu (livvin murreh) [The Big Karelian-Russian dictionary (Livvi dialect)], 2nd edition, →ISBN, page 100
MaguindanaoEdit
EtymologyEdit
From kan, compare Maranao kan.
NounEdit
ken
MandarinEdit
RomanizationEdit
ken
Usage notesEdit
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
MaranaoEdit
EtymologyEdit
From kan, compare Maranao kan.
NounEdit
ken
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From kennen.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ken (uncountable)
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “ken, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
ken
- Alternative form of kin
MohawkEdit
ParticleEdit
ken
- Question particle used in yes-or-no questions.
ReferencesEdit
- Nora Deering; Helga H. Delisle (1976) Mohawk: A teaching grammar (preliminary version), Quebec: Manitou College, page 10
Northern KurdishEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ken m
Old FrisianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-West Germanic *kuni, from Proto-Germanic *kunją, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to give birth”). Cognates include Old English cynn, Old Saxon kunni and Old Dutch cunni.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ken n
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN
PapiamentuEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- kende (synonym)
EtymologyEdit
From Portuguese quem and Spanish quien and Kabuverdianu ken.
PronounEdit
ken
Pennsylvania GermanEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Compare German kein, Dutch geen.
PronunciationEdit
ArticleEdit
ken
DeclensionEdit
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ken, kee | ken, kee | ken, kee | ken, kee |
Accusative | ken, kee | ken, kee | ken, kee | ken, kee |
Dative | kem | kenre | kem | ken |
ScotsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English kennen, from Old English cennan (“make known, declare, acknowledge”), originally "make to know", causative of cunnan (“to become acquainted with, to know”); from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną.
NounEdit
ken (uncountable)
VerbEdit
ken (third-person singular simple present kens, present participle kennin, simple past kent, past participle kent)
- (transitive) To know, perceive or understand.
- Dae ye ken Ken kens Ken?
- Do you know Ken knows Ken?"
- Dae ye ken Ken kens Ken?
Southern Sierra MiwokEdit
NounEdit
ken
Tok PisinEdit
EtymologyEdit
Inherited from English can, from Middle English can, from Old English cann, from Proto-West Germanic *kann.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
ken
Further readingEdit
- John W. M. Verhaar (1995), chapter 10, in Toward a reference grammar of Tok Pisin: An experiment in corpus linguistics, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i press, →ISBN, page 144
VepsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Finnic *ken.
PronounEdit
ken (genitive kenen, partitive keda)
- who (interrogative)
InflectionEdit
Inflection of ken | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative sing. | ken | ||
genitive sing. | kenen | ||
partitive sing. | keda | ||
partitive plur. | — | ||
singular | plural | ||
nominative | ken | — | |
accusative | kenen | — | |
genitive | kenen | — | |
partitive | keda | — | |
essive-instructive | kenen | — | |
translative | keneks | — | |
inessive | kes kenes |
— | |
elative | kespäi kenespäi |
— | |
illative | kehe kenehe |
— | |
adessive | kel kenel |
— | |
ablative | kelpäi kenelpäi |
— | |
allative | kelle kenele |
— | |
abessive | keneta | — | |
comitative | kenenke | — | |
prolative | kedame | — | |
approximative I | kenenno | — | |
approximative II | kenennoks | — | |
egressive | kenennopäi | — | |
terminative I | kehesai kenehesai |
— | |
terminative II | kellesai kenelesai |
— | |
terminative III | — | — | |
additive I | kehepäi kenehepäi |
— | |
additive II | kellepäi kenelepäi |
— |
Derived termsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “кто”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika
VietnameseEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
ken
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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VerbEdit
ken
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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.
YolaEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English ken.
NounEdit
ken
ReferencesEdit
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 49
ZouEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
ken
ReferencesEdit
- Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41