Etymologically
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ken

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is Middle English kennen, inherited from Old English cennan (“to make known, declare”),[2][3][4][5] a causative of cunnan (“to know”) (see can),[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną,[4] cognate with Dutch kennen, German kennen (“to know”) and Old Norse kenna.[4][3] The sense “know” was probably influenced by kenna.[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make known or declare: Old English, about 725, in Beowulf.[2] The sense to know is from probably before 1200, in Layamon.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English kennen was a very common verb, meaning to teach, to know how and to recognize by sight.[3] It survives mainly in Scots and northern English dialect, where it has displaced know.[3][4][6] The noun, range of knowledge or sight, as in beyond my ken, is from the 1550s–1590s.[3][7][5]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – to make known.[2]
  • before 1200 – to know.[2]
  • 1590 – range of sight.[7][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. One's range of knowledge or understanding: beyond my ken.

Verb

  1. (Scots and northern English) To know or recognize.

Word family

  • kenner
  • kenning
  • unkenned
  • can
  • con
  • know
  • cunning
  • uncanny

Usage notes

A different ken, a house where thieves met, is vagabonds' slang from the 1560s, probably short for kennel.[3][5] SOED also records a Japanese unit of length, ken.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press