Wiktionary

ken

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ken"
Languages (37)
English
Afar • Afrikaans • Basque • Breton • Cimbrian • Dupaningan Agta • Dutch • Finnish • French • Hungarian • Indonesian • Ingrian • Japanese • Kabuverdianu • Karaim • Karelian • Ladino • Livvi • 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 • Yola • Zou
Page categories

English

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

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

edit

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

edit

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

edit

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
edit
edit
Translations
edit

Noun

edit

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
edit

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

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

Etymology 3

edit

Perhaps from kennel.

Noun

edit

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
edit

Etymology 4

edit

From Hebrew קֵן (“nest”).

Noun

edit

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

edit

From Japanese 間.

Noun

edit

ken (plural kens or ken)

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

Etymology 6

edit

From Japanese 剣.

Noun

edit

ken (plural ken)

  1. The tsurugi (type of sword).

See also

edit

Anagrams

edit

Afar

edit

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

edit

kén (predicative kéeni)

  1. they, them

See also

edit
Afar personal pronouns
1st person 2nd person 3rd person
m f
subject singular anú atú úsuk ís
plural nanú isín úsun
object singular yó kó ká tét
plural né sín kén

Determiner

edit

kén

  1. their

See also

edit
Afar possessive determiners
1st person 2nd person 3rd person
m f
personal singular yi ku kay tet
plural ni sin ken
reflexive singular inní isí
plural ninní isinní, sinní

References

edit
  • 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

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

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

Noun

edit

ken (plural kenne)

  1. chin
Alternative forms
edit

Etymology 2

edit

From Dutch kennen.

Verb

edit

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

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

Basque

edit

Noun

edit

ken

  1. genitive plural of ka

Breton

edit

Etymology

edit

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

Adverb

edit

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

edit

Etymology 1

edit

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

edit

ken (strong)

  1. (Tredici Comuni) to come
Alternative forms
edit

Etymology 2

edit

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

Conjunction

edit

ken

  1. than
    Synonyms: dan, bèdar, kédar

Further reading

edit
  • “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

edit

Noun

edit

ken

  1. skirt

Dutch

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

ken

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

Anagrams

edit

Finnish

edit

Etymology

edit

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

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

Pronoun

edit

ken

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

Usage notes

edit
  • 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

edit

See kuka.

Synonyms

edit

Derived terms

edit

Further reading

edit

French

edit

Etymology

edit

Clipping of kéni, the verlan form of niquer.

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

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

edit

Only used as infinitive or past participle.

Hungarian

edit

Etymology

edit

Of unknown origin.[1]

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

ken

  1. (transitive) to smear

Conjugation

edit
Conjugation of ken
Click for archaic forms 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 indica­tive pre­sent indef. kenek kensz ken kenünk kentek kennek
def. kenem kened keni kenjük kenitek kenik
2nd obj kenlek
past indef. kentem kentél kent kentünk kentetek kentek
def. kentem kented kente kentük kentétek kenték
2nd obj kentelek
future
Future is expressed with a present-tense verb with a completion-marking prefix and/or a time adverb, or—more explicitly—with the infinitive plus the conjugated auxiliary verb fog, e.g. kenni fog.
archaic
preterite 		indef. kenék kenél kene kenénk kenétek kenének
def. keném kenéd kené kenénk kenétek kenék
2nd obj kenélek
archaic past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. ken vala, kent vala/volt.
archaic future indef. kenendek kenendesz kenend kenendünk kenendetek kenendenek
def. kenendem kenended kenendi kenendjük kenenditek kenendik
2nd obj kenendelek
condi­tional pre­sent indef. kennék kennél kenne kennénk kennétek kennének
def. kenném kennéd kenné kennénk
(or kennők) 		kennétek kennék
2nd obj kennélek
past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. kent volna
sub­junc­tive sub­junc­tive pre­sent indef. kenjek kenj or
kenjél 		kenjen kenjünk kenjetek kenjenek
def. kenjem kend or
kenjed 		kenje kenjük kenjétek kenjék
2nd obj kenjelek
(archaic) past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. kent légyen
infinitive kenni kennem kenned kennie kennünk kennetek kenniük
other
forms 		verbal noun present part. past part. future part. adverbial participle causative
kenés kenő kent kenendő kenve (kenvén) kenet
The archaic passive conjugation had the same -(t)at/-(t)et suffix as the causative, followed by -ik in the 3rd-person singular
(and the concomitant changes in conditional and subjunctive mostly in the 1st- and 3rd-person singular like with other traditional -ik verbs).
Potential conjugation of ken
Click for archaic forms 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 indica­tive pre­sent indef. kenhetek kenhetsz kenhet kenhetünk kenhettek kenhetnek
def. kenhetem kenheted kenheti kenhetjük kenhetitek kenhetik
2nd obj kenhetlek
past indef. kenhettem kenhettél kenhetett kenhettünk kenhettetek kenhettek
def. kenhettem kenhetted kenhette kenhettük kenhettétek kenhették
2nd obj kenhettelek
archaic
preterite 		indef. kenheték kenhetél kenhete kenheténk kenhetétek kenhetének
def. kenhetém kenhetéd kenheté kenheténk kenhetétek kenheték
2nd obj kenhetélek
archaic past Two additional past tenses: the present and the (current) past forms followed by vala (volt), e.g. kenhet vala, kenhetett vala/volt.
archaic future indef. kenhetendek
or kenandhatok 		kenhetendesz
or kenandhatsz 		kenhetend
or kenandhat 		kenhetendünk
or kenandhatunk 		kenhetendetek
or kenandhattok 		kenhetendenek
or kenandhatnak
def. kenhetendem
or kenandhatom 		kenhetended
or kenandhatod 		kenhetendi
or kenandhatja 		kenhetendjük
or kenandhatjuk 		kenhetenditek
or kenandhatjátok 		kenhetendik
or kenandhatják
2nd obj kenhetendelek
or kenandhatlak
condi­tional pre­sent indef. kenhetnék kenhetnél kenhetne kenhetnénk kenhetnétek kenhetnének
def. kenhetném kenhetnéd kenhetné kenhetnénk
(or kenhetnők) 		kenhetnétek kenhetnék
2nd obj kenhetnélek
past Indicative past forms followed by volna, e.g. kenhetett volna
sub­junc­tive sub­junc­tive pre­sent indef. kenhessek kenhess or
kenhessél 		kenhessen kenhessünk kenhessetek kenhessenek
def. kenhessem kenhesd or
kenhessed 		kenhesse kenhessük kenhessétek kenhessék
2nd obj kenhesselek
(archaic) past Indicative past forms followed by légyen, e.g. kenhetett légyen
infinitive (kenhetni) (kenhetnem) (kenhetned) (kenhetnie) (kenhetnünk) (kenhetnetek) (kenhetniük)
other
forms 		positive adjective negative adjective adverbial participle
kenhető kenhetetlen (kenhetve / kenhetvén)

Derived terms

edit

(With verbal prefixes):

References

edit
  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

edit
  • ken in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Indonesian

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Borrowed from Javanese ꦏꦺꦤ꧀ (kén), from Old Javanese ken (“particle before a noun (categorical or proper) denoting a person of some rank”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

edit

ken

  1. honorific for male and female children

Etymology 2

edit

From Japanese 拳 (けん, ken, “fist”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

edit

ken

  1. fist

Etymology 3

edit

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 縣(けん) (ken, “prefecture”). Romanised according modified Kunrei-shiki romanization.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

edit

ken

  1. (historical, 1942-1945) Synonym of kabupaten (“regency”)

Further reading

edit

Ingrian

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Finnic *ken. Cognates include Finnish ken and Estonian kes.

Pronunciation

edit

Pronoun

edit

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

edit
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

edit

References

edit
  • 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

edit

Romanization

edit

ken

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

Kabuverdianu

edit

Etymology

edit

From Portuguese quem.

Pronoun

edit

ken

  1. who

Karaim

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Turkic *kẹ̄ŋ.

Adjective

edit

ken

  1. wide

References

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

Karelian

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

Etymology

edit

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

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

edit

ken

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

Declension

edit
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

edit

References

edit
  • 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

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited from Old Spanish quien (“who”), from Latin quĕm, accusative of qui. Cognate with Spanish quien.

Pronoun

edit

ken (relative pronoun, Hebrew spelling קין, plural kenes)[1]

  1. who; whom
    Dime kon ken andas, te dire ken sos.
    Tell me whom you go with, [and] I’ll tell you whom you are.
  2. whoever; whomever (anyone who)
    • 1994, Tracy K. Harris, Death of a Language: The History of Judeo-Spanish‎[10], University of Delaware Press, →ISBN, page 93:
      Ken no tiene iža, no tiene amiga
      Whoever hasn’t a daughter, hasn’t a female friend [either].

References

edit
  1. ^ “ken”, in Trezoro de la Lengua Djudeoespanyola.

Livvi

edit

Etymology

edit

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

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

edit

ken

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

References

edit
  • N. Gilojeva, S. Rudakova (2009) Karjalan kielen Livvin murdehen algukursu [Beginners' course of Karelian language's Livvi dialect]‎[11] (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

edit

Etymology

edit

From kan. Compare Maranao kan.

Pronunciation

edit
  • (Standard Maguindanaon) IPA(key): /kən/ [kɪɳ]
  • Rhymes: -ən
  • Syllabification: ken

Noun

edit

kën

  1. food

Mandarin

edit

Romanization

edit

ken

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

Usage notes

edit
  • 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

edit

Etymology

edit

From kan, compare Maranao kan.

Noun

edit

ken

  1. food

Middle English

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From kennen.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

ken (uncountable)

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

Etymology 2

edit

Noun

edit

ken

  1. Alternative form of kyn

Mohawk

edit

Particle

edit

ken

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

References

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

North Frisian

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Germanic *kunnaną.

Verb

edit

ken

  1. (Sylt) can, be able

Conjugation

edit
Conjugation of ken (Sylt dialect)
infinitive I ken
infinitive II (tö) kenen
past participle kür
imperative —
  present past
1st singular ken kür
2nd singular kenst kürst
3rd singular ken kür
plural / dual ken kür
  perfect pluperfect
1st singular haa kür her kür
2nd singular heest kür herst kür
3rd singular heer kür her kür
plural / dual haa kür her kür
  future (skel) future (wel)
1st singular skel ken wel ken
2nd singular sket ken wet ken
3rd singular skel ken wel ken
plural / dual skel ken wel ken

Northern Kurdish

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

ken m

  1. laugh
  2. smile

Old Frisian

edit

Etymology

edit

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

edit

Noun

edit

ken n

  1. kindred, kin

Descendants

edit

References

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

Old Javanese

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kain (“woman's skirt”).

Noun

edit

ken

  1. garment worn around the lower part of the body
Alternative forms
edit
Derived terms
edit
Descendants
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Particle

edit

ken

  1. particle before a noun (categorical or proper) denoting a person of some rank
Derived terms
edit
Descendants
edit

Further reading

edit
  • "ken" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Papiamentu

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Portuguese quem and Spanish quien and Kabuverdianu ken.

Pronoun

edit

ken

  1. who

Pennsylvania German

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

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

Pronunciation

edit

Determiner

edit

ken

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

Declension

edit
Declension of ken, kee
singular plural
m f n
nominative ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee
dative kem kenre kem ken
accusative ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee ken, kee

Scots

edit

Etymology

edit

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

edit

ken (uncountable)

  1. knowledge or perception

Verb

edit

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

edit

Noun

edit

ken

  1. no

Tok Pisin

edit

Etymology

edit

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

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

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

edit
  • 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

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Finnic *ken.

Pronoun

edit

ken (genitive kenen, partitive keda)

  1. who (interrogative)

Inflection

edit
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

edit

References

edit
  • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “кто”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎[12], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

ken

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

Verb

edit

ken

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

Yola

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle English ken.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

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

edit
  • 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

Zou

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

ken

  1. wheel

References

edit
  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ken&oldid=84560722"