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Definition of 'ken'English
Etymology 1
Northern and Scottish dialects from (etyl) .
The noun meaning “range of sight” is a nautical abbreviation of present participle kenning.
Noun
(-)
Knowledge or perception.
Range of sight.
Usage notes
In common usage a (fossil word), found only in the phrase .
Coordinate terms
* (nautical range of sight) (l)
Verb
To know, perceive or understand.
To discover by sight; to catch sight of; to descry.
* 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
- I proposed to the Mariners, that it would be of great benefit in Navigation to make use of [the telescope] upon the round-top of a ship, to discover and kenne Vessels afar off.
* Addison
- We ken them from afar.''
* Shakespeare
- 'Tis he. I ken the manner of his gait.
Derived terms
* beken
* foreken
* kenned
* kenning
* misken
* underken
* unkenned
References
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Etymology 2
Perhaps from kennel.
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