keen

Keen, eager or sharp, is an Old English word, while keen, to wail for the dead, was borrowed from Irish in the 19th century.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kin/; /kiːn/ (UK)^[4]

keen¹ sharp, eager

Etymology

It is Middle English kene, inherited from Old English cēne (“bold, brave; clever, wise”),^[1][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *kōnjaz,^[3] cognate with Old Norse kœnn, skilful, wise, Middle Dutch coene, bold (Dutch koen), and Old High German kuoni (German kühn (“bold, daring”)).^[1][2][3] Hoad finds no certain cognates outside Germanic,^[3] while Barnhart relates it to the root of can and ken, from PIE *ĝon-, to know.^[2] Etymonline suggests the connecting notion was to be able.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Brave, bold: about 897;^[6] wise, learned, before 1000.^[6] Barnhart dates Old English cēne before 725.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED calls the original meaning somewhat obscure: it seems to have been both brave and skilled.^[1] The physical sense, sharp-edged or sharp-pointed, is from about 1200 and peculiar to English.^[1][6] From about 1300 it was used of sounds, loud or shrill, and of cold, wind or fire, biting,^[1] and eager, ardent from about 1300 (14th century in Hoad).^[1][3] Of eyesight it is from about 1720.^[1] A word of approval in student slang from about 1900,^[1] wonderful or perfect, is first recorded in American English in 1914.^[2] Collins gives the British keen on, fond of.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 897 – brave.^[6]
• c. 1200 – sharp-edged.^[1]
• c. 1300 – eager; shrill; biting.^[1]
• c. 1720 – of eyesight.^[1]
• 1914 – wonderful (US slang).^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Eager or enthusiastic.
2. (keen on) Fond of; very interested in.
3. Having a fine, sharp edge or point.
4. Quick and sharp in mind: a keen wit.
5. Of the senses, very sensitive: keen eyesight.
6. Intense or piercing, as wind or cold.
7. (dated slang) Great, splendid.

Word family

• keenly
• keenness

keen² lament

Etymology

It is borrowed from Irish caoinim (“I weep, wail, lament”),^[1][2][3] from Old Irish coinim (“I wail”).^[1][2] The noun is from Irish caoine, a lament.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lament loudly over the dead: 1811, implied in keener, one who keens.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

The noun, an Irish funeral song with wailing for the dead, is from 1830.^[6][2] To utter in a shrill voice is from 1893.^[1] The EDD records it in Scotland, Ireland and Northumberland.^[9]

Timeline

• 1811 – keener.^[2]
• 1830 – the noun.^[6]
• 1893 – to utter shrilly.^[1]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To wail in lamentation, especially for the dead.

Noun

1. A loud, wailing lament for the dead.

Word family

• keener
• keening

Related words

• can
• ken
• know

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)