ken English · revision 6377

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *kannijaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɛn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English kennen, [[inh|ang|cennan|t=to make known, declare]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) a causative of [[m|ang|cunnan|t=to know]] (see [[can]]),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*kannijaną]],^(Hoad 1986) cognate with [[nl|kennen]], [[de|kennen|t=to know]] and [[non|kenna]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The sense “know” was probably influenced by [[m|non|kenna]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To make known or declare: Old English, about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988) The sense ''to know'' is from probably before 1200, in Layamon.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English kennen was a very common verb, meaning to teach, to know how and to recognize by sight.^(Etymonline) It survives mainly in Scots and northern English dialect, where it has displaced know.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Wright 1898) The noun, range of knowledge or sight, as in ''beyond my ken'', is from the 1550s–1590s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – to make known.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1200 – to know.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590 – range of sight.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One's range of knowledge or understanding: ''beyond my ken''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(Scots and northern English)'' To know or recognize.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kenner]]

+ * [[kenning]]

+ * [[unkenned]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[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]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) SOED also records a Japanese unit of length, ken.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}