English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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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

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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.

Verb

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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
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Translations
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Noun

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ken (uncountable)

  1. 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.
  2. (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
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In common usage a fossil word, found only in phrases such as beyond one’s ken and swim into one’s ken.

Coordinate terms
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  • (nautical range of sight): offing
Translations
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References
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Etymology 3

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Perhaps from kennel.

Noun

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ken (plural kens)

  1. (slang, UK, obsolete, 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[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 terms
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Etymology 4

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Hebrew קֵן (nest)

Noun

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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[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 5

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Japanese

Noun

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ken (plural kens or ken)

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

Etymology 6

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Japanese

Noun

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ken (plural ken)

  1. The tsurugi (type of sword).

See also

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Anagrams

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Afar

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Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

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kén (predicative kéeni)

  1. they, them

See also

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Determiner

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kén

  1. their

See also

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References

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  • 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)

Afrikaans

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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

Noun

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ken (plural kenne)

  1. chin
Alternative forms
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Etymology 2

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From Dutch kennen.

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To know (a person, a thing), be acquainted with
Derived terms
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Basque

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Noun

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ken

  1. genitive plural of ka

Breton

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Etymology

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

Adverb

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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

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Etymology 1

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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

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ken (strong)

  1. (Tredici Comuni) to come
Alternative forms
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Etymology 2

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

Conjunction

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ken

  1. than
    Synonyms: dan, bèdar, kédar

Further reading

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  • “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 Agta

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Noun

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ken

  1. skirt

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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ken

  1. inflection of kennen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Anagrams

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Finnish

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Etymology

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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

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

Pronoun

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ken

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

Usage notes

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  • Ken is old-fashioned or poetic in tone (or dialectal), yet its inflected forms are common and standard. See the usage notes under kuka.

Inflection

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See kuka.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Clipping of kéni, the verlan form of niquer.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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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, Barbie:
      Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c’est juste Ken.
      She can do anything. He can just Ken/fuck.

Usage notes

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Only used as infinitive or past participle.

Hungarian

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Etymology

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Of unknown origin.[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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ken

  1. (transitive) to smear

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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(With verbal prefixes):

References

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  1. ^ 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 reading

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  • 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

Indonesian

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kɛn/
  • Hyphenation: kèn

Noun

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ken

  1. honorific for male and female children.

Etymology 2

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From Japanese (けん, ken, fist).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kɛn/
  • Hyphenation: kèn

Noun

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ken

  1. fist.

Further reading

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Ingrian

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognates include Finnish ken and Estonian kes.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ken

  1. (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!
  2. (indefinite) whoever
    • 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, 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.
  3. (relative) who, that

Declension

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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 terms

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References

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  • V. I. Junus (1936) Iƶoran Keelen Grammatikka[9], Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 100
  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 152

Japanese

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Romanization

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ken

  1. Rōmaji transcription of けん
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ケン

Kabuverdianu

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Etymology

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From Portuguese quem.

Pronoun

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ken

  1. who

Karaim

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Turkic *kẹ̄ŋ.

Adjective

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ken

  1. wide

References

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  • N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “ken”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Karelian

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Regional variants of ken
North Karelian
(Viena)
ken
South Karelian
(Tver)
ken

Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *ken. Cognates include Finnish ken and Veps ken.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈken/
  • Hyphenation: ken

Pronoun

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ken

  1. (interrogative) who?
  2. (relative) whoever

Declension

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Viena Karelian declension of ken (irregular)
singular plural
nominative ken ket
genitive kenen kenen
partitive ketä ketä
illative keneh keneh
inessive keššä keššä
elative keštä keštä
adessive kellä kellä
ablative keltä keltä
translative kekši kekši
essive kenenä kenenä
comitative keneneh
abessive kettä kettä
Tver Karelian declension of ken (irregular)
singular plural
nominative ken ket
genitive kenen kenen
partitive kedä ketä
illative keneh keneh
inessive keššä keššä
elative keštä keštä
adessive kellä kellä
ablative keldä keldä
translative kekši kekši
essive kenenä kenenä
comitative kenenke kenenke
abessive kettä kettä

Derived terms

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References

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  • A. V. Punzhina (1994) “ken”, in Словарь карельского языка (тверские говоры) [Dictionary of the Karelian language (Tver dialects)], →ISBN
  • P. Zaykov, L. Rugoyeva (1999) “ken”, in Карельско-Русский словарь (Северно-Карельские диалекты) [Karelian-Russian dictionary (North Karelian dialects)], Petrozavodsk, →ISBN

Ladino

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Etymology

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From Latin quĕm, accusative of qui.

Pronoun

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ken (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קיין)

  1. who, whom
    Dime kon ken andas, te dire ken sos.
    Tell me who you go with, I'll tell you who you are.
  2. whoever, whomever

Livvi

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *ken, from Proto-Uralic *ke. Cognates include Karelian ken and Ingrian ken.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈken/
  • Hyphenation: ken

Pronoun

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ken

  1. who?
    Ken hyö ollah?Who are they?

References

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  • N. Gilojeva, S. Rudakova (2009) Karjalan kielen Livvin murdehen algukursu [Beginners' course of Karelian language's Livvi dialect]‎[10] (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

Maguindanao

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Etymology

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From kan, compare Maranao kan.

Noun

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ken

  1. food

Mandarin

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Romanization

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ken

  1. Nonstandard spelling of kēn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of kěn.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of kèn.

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Maranao

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Etymology

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From kan, compare Maranao kan.

Noun

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ken

  1. food

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From kennen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ken (uncountable)

  1. (Late Middle English, hapax) recognition
Descendants
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  • English: ken
  • Yola: ken, kin
References
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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ken

  1. Alternative form of kyn

Mohawk

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Particle

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ken

  1. Question particle used in yes-or-no questions.

References

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  • Nora Deering, Helga H. Delisle (1976) Mohawk: A teaching grammar (preliminary version), Quebec: Manitou College, page 10

Northern Kurdish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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ken m

  1. laugh
  2. smile

Old Frisian

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Etymology

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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.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ken n

  1. kindred, kin

Descendants

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References

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  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Papiamentu

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Portuguese quem and Spanish quien and Kabuverdianu ken.

Pronoun

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ken

  1. who

Pennsylvania German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle High German nechein, from Old High German nihein. Compare German kein, Dutch geen.

Pronunciation

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Determiner

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ken

  1. no; not a(n); not one; not any

Declension

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Declension of ken, kee
masculine feminine neuter plural
nominative ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee
dative kem kenre kem ken
accusative ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee

Scots

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Etymology

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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.

Noun

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ken (uncountable)

  1. knowledge or perception

Verb

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ken (third-person singular simple present kens, present participle kennin, simple past kent, past participle kent)

  1. (transitive) To know, perceive or understand.
    Do ye ken John Peel with his coat so gay? - 19th century Cumbrian ballad
    Dae ye ken Ken kens Ken?
    Do you know Ken knows Ken?"

Southern Sierra Miwok

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Noun

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ken

  1. no

Tok Pisin

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Etymology

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Inherited from English can, from Middle English can, from Old English cann, from Proto-West Germanic *kann.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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ken

  1. (auxiliary) to be able to
  2. (auxiliary) to may, to be allowed
    • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 1:29:
      Na God i tok olsem, “Mi givim yupela ol kain kain diwai na gras i karim pikinini bilong kaikai. Na yupela i ken kisim kaikai long ol dispela samting.
      →New International Version translation
  3. (auxiliary) Expresses a wish.; may...

Further reading

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  • 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

Veps

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *ken.

Pronoun

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ken (genitive kenen, partitive keda)

  1. who (interrogative)

Inflection

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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 terms

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References

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  • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “кто”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎[11], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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ken

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Verb

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ken

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Yola

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English ken.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ken

  1. ken
  2. regard, liking
    • 1867, “ABOUT AN OLD SOW GOING TO BE KILLED”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 106:
      Ich aam a vat hog it's drue. Aar is ken apan aam.
      I am a fat hog, 'tis true. There is ken upon them.

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 49

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ken

  1. wheel

References

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  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41