Etymologically
Log in

keen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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)