Etymology and origin of the Old English word cennan
cennan1 make known
Etymology tree of cennan1
From the same root · cennan1
Pronunciation
- /ˈken.nɑn/[1]
Forms
cennan (w1b; third-person singular present cenneþ, past singular cende, past plural cendon)[1]
Etymology
The word for “make known, declare” is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, the causative of *kunnaną (“to know”), the verb behind cunnan.[1][2] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kannjan, “to make known”), Old Norse kenna (“to know, recognise; to assign”), Old Saxon antkennian (“to perceive”), Old Dutch kennan (“to know”) and Old High German arkennen (“to recognise”).[2][3] Köbler traces it to the root Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”).[4]
Holthausen and Köbler separate it from cennan “to give birth”, which they derive from the root of cynn;[3]^(Köbler AE|s.v. cėnnan 1 Klaeber also lists the two verbs apart.[3][5][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The sense is recorded in the poems of the Exeter Book, copied in the second half of the tenth century: in Guthlac A we deorwyrþne dæl Dryhtne cennaþ “we ascribe the precious portion to the Lord”.[7][8]
Semantic evolution
Bosworth and Toller explain the sense as bringing forth from the mind, and list “declare”, “choose”, “ascribe”, “clear” and “prove”.[8] In the laws it is a term of procedure: the accused declares in his defence where a thing came from or that he bought it, and in the laws of Wihtred a man clears himself (hine cænne) by an oath.[9] In Beowulf the queen tells the hero cen þec mid cræfte “show yourself by your strength”.[6] Ælfric uses it of the census, at which each man had to declare his birth and rank.[10]
The verb lived on as Middle English kennen “to make known, teach”, with senses that the MED ascribes partly to Old Norse influence, and as the dialect verb ken “to know”.[11][12]
Timeline
- s. x² – Dryhtne cennaþ “ascribe to the Lord” in Guthlac A in the Exeter Book.[7][8]
- s. x ex. – be him sylfum cendon “declared themselves” at the census in Ælfric's first series of Catholic Homilies.[13][14]
- s. x/xi – cen þec mid cræfte in the Beowulf manuscript.[15][6]
Meanings
Verb
- to declare, make known.[8][4]
- to choose, appoint; to ascribe, assign.[8][16]
- (law) to clear oneself; to declare in one's defence.[9][8]
- (reflexive) to show oneself.[6]
Word family
- ġecennan
Descendants
cennan2 give birth
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- c. 850 Vespasian Psalter gloss
- Inherited from
- Proto-West Germanic *kannjan
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-
Pronunciation
- /ˈken.nɑn/[1]
Forms
cennan (w1b; third-person singular present cenneþ, past singular cende, past plural cendon)[1]
Etymology
The word for “give birth, beget” is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵonh₁éyeti, the causative of the root *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).[1] Köbler gives the same root.[5] Holthausen puts it with Old Saxon kind (“child”) and Old High German kind (“child”), and outside Germanic with Latin gignō (“to beget”) and Ancient Greek γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “to become”); in Old English he links it with cynn, cyning and cynd.[3]
Holthausen and Köbler keep it apart from cennan “to make known”, which goes with cunnan;[3]^(Köbler AE|s.v. cėnnan 2 Klaeber lists the two verbs apart as well.[3][4][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The verb is in the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter, added in the middle of the ninth century: at Psalm 7 cenneð unrehtwisnisse renders “peperit iniustitiam” “brings forth injustice”.[17][14] In the Pastoral Care (890×897) it is used of women who bear children: ða wif ðe ða geeacnodan bearn cennað “the women who bring forth the children they have conceived”.[18][14]
Semantic evolution
Bosworth and Toller give “to beget, conceive, create, bring forth” as the first sense, rendering Latin “gignere”, “creare” and “parere”.[8] It glosses “eniti”, “generare”, “nasci”, “parturire” and “procreare”.[5] Toller's Supplement adds plants producing fruit and things causing an effect.[10] In the poetry it can mean “to create, give”: in Elene a name is cenned “given” to Judas.[8] In Beowulf a son is æfter cenned “born afterwards”.[6]
The verb lived on as Middle English kennen “to give birth, beget”.[11]
Timeline
- s. ix med. – cenneð unrehtwisnisse “brings forth injustice” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[17][14]
- 890×897 – women who bearn cennað “bear children” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[18][14]
- s. x/xi – eafera wæs æfter cenned in the Beowulf manuscript.[15][6]
Meanings
Verb
- to give birth to, bear (a child).[10][6]
- to beget, conceive.[8][5]
- to create, produce; of plants, to bring forth.[10]
Word family
- ācennan
- cennend
- frumcenned
- uncenned
Descendants
- Middle English kennen[1]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 279
- ^ a b c d e f Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 46
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. cėnnan 2
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. cėnnan 1
- ^ a b c d e f g h Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. cennan
- ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 223
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 150
- ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 32
- ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 121
- ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
- ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 407
- ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
- ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
- ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 66
- ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
- ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Cennan.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ang/cennan. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
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