keen English · revision 7593

+ Keen, eager or sharp, is an Old English word, while keen, to wail for the dead, was borrowed from Irish in the 19th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kin/; /kiːn/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|sharp, eager}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 897|origins=gem-pro *kōnijaz}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English kene, [[inh|ang|cēne|t=bold, brave; clever, wise]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *kōnjaz,^(Hoad 1986) cognate with Old Norse kœnn, skilful, wise, Middle Dutch coene, bold (Dutch [[m|nl|koen]]), and Old High German kuoni (German [[m|de|kühn|t=bold, daring]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad finds no certain cognates outside Germanic,^(Hoad 1986) while Barnhart relates it to the root of [[can]] and [[ken]], from PIE *ĝon-, to know.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline suggests the connecting notion was to be able.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Brave, bold: about 897;^(OED 1989) wise, learned, before 1000.^(OED 1989) Barnhart dates Old English cēne before 725.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The OED calls the original meaning somewhat obscure: it seems to have been both brave and skilled.^(Etymonline) The physical sense, sharp-edged or sharp-pointed, is from about 1200 and peculiar to English.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) From about 1300 it was used of sounds, loud or shrill, and of cold, wind or fire, biting,^(Etymonline) and eager, ardent from about 1300 (14th century in Hoad).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Of eyesight it is from about 1720.^(Etymonline) A word of approval in student slang from about 1900,^(Etymonline) wonderful or perfect, is first recorded in American English in 1914.^(Barnhart 1988) Collins gives the British ''keen on'', fond of.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 897 – brave.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – sharp-edged.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – eager; shrill; biting.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1720 – of eyesight.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – wonderful (US slang).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[eager|alt=Eager]] or [[enthusiastic]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(keen on)'' Fond of; very interested in.^(Collins 2023)

+ # Having a fine, [[sharp]] edge or point.^(AHD)

+ # Quick and sharp in mind: ''a keen wit''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of the senses, very sensitive: ''keen eyesight''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Intense or piercing, as wind or cold.^(AHD)

+ # ''(dated slang)'' Great, splendid.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[keenly]]

+ * [[keenness]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|lament}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1811|origins=ga caoinim}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|ga|caoinim|t=I weep, wail, lament]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Old Irish [[m|sga|coinim|t=I wail]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun is from Irish caoine, a lament.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To lament loudly over the dead: 1811, implied in keener, one who keens.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, an Irish funeral song with wailing for the dead, is from 1830.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) To utter in a shrill voice is from 1893.^(Etymonline) The EDD records it in Scotland, Ireland and Northumberland.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1811 – keener.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1830 – the noun.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1893 – to utter shrilly.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[wail]] in [[lament|alt=lamentation]], especially for the dead.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A loud, wailing lament for the dead.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[keener]]

+ * [[keening]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[can]]

+ * [[ken]]

+ * [[know]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}