Wiktionary

ken

See also: Ken, KEN, kén, kèn, kēn, kěn, -ken, and ken-

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /kɛn/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛn

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)

  1. (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.

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)

  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:
      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 termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

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 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.
  2. (nautical) Range of sight.
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)

  1. (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
Derived terms

Etymology 4Edit

Hebrew קֵן‎ (“nest”)

NounEdit

ken (plural kenim)

  1. (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

Japanese 間

NounEdit

ken (plural kens or ken)

  1. A Japanese unit of length equal to six shakus

Etymology 6Edit

Japanese 剣

NounEdit

ken (plural ken)

  1. The tsurugi

AnagramsEdit

AfarEdit

PronunciationEdit

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

PronounEdit

kén (predicative kéeni)

  1. they, them

See alsoEdit

Afar personal pronouns
1st person 2nd person 3rd person m 3rd person f
Subject Singular anú atú úsuk ís
Plural nanú isín úsun
Object Singular yó kó ká tét
Plural né sín kén

DeterminerEdit

kén

  1. their

See alsoEdit

Afar possessive determiners
1st person 2nd person 3rd person m 3rd person f
Personal Singular yi ku kay tet
Plural ni sin ken
Reflexive Singular inní isí
Plural ninní isinní, sinní

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)

  1. chin
Alternative formsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Dutch kennen.

VerbEdit

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

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

BasqueEdit

NounEdit

ken

  1. genitive plural of ka

BretonEdit

AdverbEdit

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

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)

  1. (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

  1. than
    Synonyms: dan, bèdar, kédar

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

  1. skirt

DutchEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

ken

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

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

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

PronounEdit

ken

  1. (interrogative, dated) who; (when followed by a modifier in elative case, -sta/-stä) which one (of + a noun referring to people).
  2. (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

SynonymsEdit

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Clipping of kéni, the verlan form of niquer.

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

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.

Usage notesEdit

Only used as infinitive or past participle.

HungarianEdit

EtymologyEdit

Of unknown origin.[1]

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

ken

  1. (transitive) to smear

ConjugationEdit

conjugation of ken
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

  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 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

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

NounEdit

ken

  1. honorific for male and female children.

Etymology 2Edit

From Japanese 拳 (けん, ken, “fist”).

PronunciationEdit

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

NounEdit

ken

  1. fist.

Further readingEdit

IngrianEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

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, 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.
  3. (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

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

KabuverdianuEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Portuguese quem.

PronounEdit

ken

  1. who

KarelianEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

PronounEdit

ken

  1. who?

DeclensionEdit

Declension of ken
singular plural
nominative ken ket
genitive kenen kenen
partitive ketä ketä
inessive kenessä kenessä
elative kenestä kenestä
illative keneh keneh
adessive kellä kellä
ablative keltä keltä
essive kenenä kenenä
translative keneksi keneksi
abessive kettä kettä

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)

  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

LivviEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

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

PronounEdit

ken

  1. 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

  1. food

MandarinEdit

RomanizationEdit

ken

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

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

  1. food

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From kennen.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

ken (uncountable)

  1. (Late Middle English, hapax) recognition
DescendantsEdit
  • English: ken
  • Yola: ken, kin
ReferencesEdit

Etymology 2Edit

NounEdit

ken

  1. Alternative form of kin

MohawkEdit

ParticleEdit

ken

  1. 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

  1. laugh
  2. smile

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

  1. kindred, kin

DescendantsEdit

ReferencesEdit

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

PapiamentuEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Portuguese quem and Spanish quien and Kabuverdianu ken.

PronounEdit

ken

  1. who

Pennsylvania GermanEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

Compare German kein, Dutch geen.

PronunciationEdit

ArticleEdit

ken

  1. no

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)

  1. knowledge or perception

VerbEdit

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 MiwokEdit

NounEdit

ken

  1. no

Tok PisinEdit

EtymologyEdit

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

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

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 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)

  1. 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

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

VerbEdit

ken

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

YolaEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English ken.

NounEdit

ken

  1. ken
  2. regard, liking

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

  1. wheel

ReferencesEdit

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