▪ I. ken, n.1
(kɛn)
Also 7 kenn(e.
[f. ken v.1]
† 1. = kenning vbl. n.1 4 b. Obs.
| 1545 St. Papers Hen. VIII, I. 815 The place, wher we be at this present, ys thwartt of Shorham, too kennys allmoste frome the shore. 1574 Bourne Regim. for Sea xviii. (1577) 48 b, Neyther is it possible to see any lande further..where⁓fore 6. leagues or 9. leagues is called a ken. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 250 Lette this suffice, that they are safely come within a ken of Douer. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. vi. 6 Milford, When from the Mountaine top, Pisanio shew'd thee, Thou was't within a kenne. 1625 Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. vii. (1635) 121 The Fisher-man iudging by sight, could not see about a kenne at sea. |
2. Range of sight or vision; in phrases in or within ken, beyond, out of, or past ken. Now rare.
| 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 90 The bordering islands, seated here in ken. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 85 Out of ken we were ere the Countesse came from the feast. 1624 Massinger Bondman iv. i, The conquering army Is within ken. 1691 Ray Creation i. (1692) 4 Beyond all Ken by the best Telescopes. 1725 Pope Odyss. v. 456 Scarce in ken appears that distant isle. 1882 F. W. H. Myers Renewal of Youth 77 Thro' space, if space it be, past count or ken. |
b. With possessive or equivalent.
| 1630 Drayton Noah's Flood (R.), On which they might discern within their ken The carcasses of birds, of beasts, and men. a 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. viii. 365 The Intellect..taketh a flight out of the ken or reach of Sense. 1791 Cowper Illiad iii. 15 The eye Is bounded in its ken to a stone's cast. 1864 H. Ainsworth John Law v. x. (1881) 283 Many remarkable personages came under Evelyn's ken. |
† 3. Sight or view of a thing, place, etc.; possibility or capacity of seeing; chiefly in phrases in, within, out of ken of. Obs.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. clx, 'Tis double death to drown in ken of shore. 1634 Massinger Very Woman v. v, Hardly We had lost the ken of Sicily, but we were Becalm'd. 1691 Ray Creation i. (1692) 86 Scarce daring to venture out of the Ken of Land. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. viii. 64, I sent out my servant to watch..these..strollers, and keep..within ken of them. |
4. Power or exercise of vision; look, gaze.
| 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. cxi, Each ambitiously would claim the ken That with first eyes did distant safety meet. 1736 W. Thompson Nativity xi, Faith led the van,..Steady her ken, and gaining on the skies. 1814 Cary Dante's Inf. iv. 4, I..search'd, With fixed ken, to know what place it was Wherein I stood. |
b. Mental perception or recognition.
| c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxv. 28 Every gait off wicket stait Sall perreiss owt of ken. 1701 Rowe Amb. Step-Moth. iii. iii. 1340 Whose Orb, with streaming Glories fraught, Dazles the Ken of human thought. 1836–7 Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. xviii. (1870) 361 Acts of mind so rapid and minute as to elude the ken of consciousness. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlii. (1892) 235 My vera memorandum book blottit oot' o' ken. |
▪ II. ken, n.2
(kɛn)
Also 6 kene.
[Vagabonds' slang.]
A house; esp. a house where thieves, beggars, or disreputable characters meet or lodge. Freq. with qualifying words, as bousing-ken, dancing-ken, smuggling-ken, stalling-ken, touting-ken (q.v.). Phr. to burn the ken (see quot. 1725).
| 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 83 A ken, a house. Ibid. 85 Tower ye [= look you], yander is the kene. 1622 Fletcher Beggars' Bush v. i, Surprising a boore's ken for grunting cheates. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew ii. Wks. 1873 III. 388 Bowse a health to the Gentry Cofe of the Ken. 1725 New Cant. Dict., Burnt the Ken, when Strollers leave the Ale⁓house, without paying their Quarters. 1800 Sporting Mag. XVI. 26 Called at a ken in the way home. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 351 Up she goes to any likely ken,..and commences begging. 1860 Dixon Pers. Hist. Ld. Bacon v. §15 These..skulk about the kens of Newgate Street. |
▪ III. ‖ ken, n.3
(kɛn)
Also 8–9 kin. Pl. ken, occas. kens.
[Jap.]
A Japanese unit of length equal to six shaku; equivalent to approximately 71·5 inches (1·82 metres).
| 1727 J. G. Scheuchzer tr. Kæmpfer's Hist. Japan II. 405 The Tsjo contains sixty Kin, or Mats, according to their way of measuring, or about as many European fathoms. Ibid. 407 This bridge is supported, in the middle, by a small island, and consequently consists of two parts, the first whereof hath 36 kins, or fathoms, in length, and the second 96. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XX. 486/2, 1 kin = 1 fathom. 1884 Satow & Hawes Handbk. for Travellers Cent. & N. Japan (ed. 2) 17 The chō is further subdivided into 60 ken and the ken again into 6 shaku, the shaku being about 11·9 English inches. 1956 K. Tomiki Judo i. 22 The floor space for a contest shall be 5 ken (30 feet) square of 50 tatami. |
▪ IV. ‖ ken, n.4
(kɛn)
[Jap.]
A prefecture; one of the territorial divisions of Japan.
| 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 490/2 His [sc. Sho-tai's] territory was declared first a han or feudal dependency and afterwards a ken or province of the Japanese monarchy. 1890 B. H. Chamberlain Things Japanese 134 There are two current divisions of the soil of the Empire—an older and more popular one into provinces (kuni)..and a recent, purely administrative one into prefectures (ken) of which at the present moment..there are forty-three. 1899 Kipling From Sea to Sea I. xviii. 378 Away in the western kens—districts, as you call them. 1947 E. O. Reischauer Japan Past & Present ix. 119 Two years later, in 1871, the fiefs were entirely abolished, and the land was divided into a number of new political divisions called ken or ‘prefectures’. 1965 J. W. Hall et al. Twelve Doors to Japan i. 16 Today..they [sc. the kuni] have been merged into the larger prefectures (to, dō, fu, and ken, of which there are forty-six) and have lost much of their contemporary meaning. |
▪ V. ‖ ken, n.5
(kɛn)
[Jap.]
A Japanese game of forfeits played with the hands and with gestures.
| 1890 B. H. Chamberlain Things Japanese 125 The Japanese play various games of forfeits, which they call Ken, sitting in a little circle and flinging out their fingers, after the manner of the Italian mora. 1898 A. Diósy New Far East v. 236 Dignified and sedate as if ken, and other rollicking games of forfeits, were frivolities far beneath her notice. 1958 Japan (Jap. Nat. Commission for Unesco) xxix. 1030 Ken is a game introduced from ancient China with many variations... The game was held at banquets and feasts in the Edo Period when ken meets were also held. |
▪ VI. ken, v.1
(kɛn)
Forms: 1 cennan, (cænnan), 3–4 kennen, (5 -yn), (3–5 kene, 3 cene, 5 keen), 3–7 kenne, 3– ken, (3, 8 kenn, 5 kyn). pa. tense 3–5 kende, 3– kenned(e, kenn'd, kend; 9 Sc. kent.
[Com. Teut.: OE. cęnnan (cęnde, cęnned) = Fris. kanna, kenna, OS. (ant)kennian (MDu. and Du. kennen), OHG. (ir-, in-, pi-) chennan (MHG. and G. kennen), ON. kenna (Sw. känna, Da. kjende, kende), Goth. kannjan, factitive of the preterite-pres. *kann-, I know: see can v.1
The form is properly causative ‘to cause to know’, ‘to make known’, and was restricted to this use in Goth. and OE. At an early period, however, in all the Teutonic tongues, the verb also acquired the sense ‘to know’. In Eng. this may have been taken from Norse, in which both senses were in early use. In mod. Eng. ken is only archaic (in sense 6) and has its pa. tense and pa. pple. kenned (cf. pen, penned); in Sc. (where it has entirely displaced knaw ‘to know’) the pa. tense and pple. are now kent; south Sc. kend.]
I. In causative senses. (All Obs.)
† 1. trans. To make known, declare, confess, acknowledge. Obs.
| Beowulf 1219 (Z.) Cen þec mid cræfte & þyssum cnyhtum wes lara liðe. c 975 Laws K. Edgar iv. §10 Gif he þonne cenð [§11 cænne] þæt he hit mid ᵹewitnysse bohte. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) cvii[i]. 8 Ic me to cyninge cenne Iudas..ic Idumea ealle cenne. c 1205 Lay. 6639 Ne der ich noht kennen..þat ich her king weore. |
† 2. To make known, to impart the knowledge of (a thing). Usually with dat. of person (or to): To make a thing known to one; to teach one something. Obs.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1347, & tat we kennið þe wel..þat we leaueð þi lahe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 216 A fruit, ðe kenned wel and wo. a 1300 Cursor M. 3644, I sal þe ken ful gode a gin. a 1352 Minot Poems vii. 34 Calais men, now may ze care..Sir Edward shall ken zow zowre crede. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 90 Clerkes þat knowen hit scholde techen [v.r. kenne] hit aboute. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. ii. 114 Thir Papys war gud haly men, And oysyd the trowth to folk to ken. c 1430 Christ's Compl. 508 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 199 Y loued not hem þat me good kende. |
† b. With clause expressing what is made known or taught, the dat. of the person being later taken as direct obj., and so as subject of passive. Obs.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 16 Cuð me ant ken me hwi þe worldes weldent wunieð in þe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. i. 136 Ȝet mote ye kenne me better, By what craft in my corps it comseth. Ibid. xv. 156 Clerkis kenne me þat cryst is in alle places. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. vii. 356 Why..the ayre is so cleare, now shall we be kent. |
† c. to ken thank: to make known or express thanks: = can v.1 10, con v.1 4. Obs.
| c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) iii. viii, Sothly he wyll kenne the more thanke for thy meke wesshynge of his fete. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer (1577) R viij a, Least..he ken them the lesse thanke for doing al things contrarily. 1567 Edwards Damon & Pythias in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 61 All right courtiers will ken me thank. |
† 3. To direct, teach, or instruct (a person). Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2694 (Cott.) Abram..did als drightin can him ken [Trin. as god him hadde tauȝt]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 482 Al þat ware honeste men Ȝarnit he suld þare barnis ken. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5663 Þen folowet all the flete..Euyn kepyn hor course, as þai kend were. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (1494) i. lxxii, I am enformed & kenned in all thynges. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 824 Arrectyng my prayer to Mynerve..me to inform and ken. |
† b. with inf. compl.: To teach one, show one how to do something. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7363, I sal þe ken To knau him a-mang oþer men. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 4 Kenne me bi somme crafte to knowe þe fals. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 544, I vndirtak..For to ken ȝow to clym the wall. a 1529 Skelton P. Sparowe 970 Now Phebus me ken To sharpe my pen. |
† c. absol. To give instruction or directions.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 663 Parys dide as Venus kende. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 40 Thanne reson rod forth..And dude as conscience kenned. |
† 4. To direct, guide, show the way to (unto, till) a place or person. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 45 He is cleped king, for þat he kenneð eure to rihte. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 50, I openly Ken you till him of quaim I spek. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 104, I schal kenne þe to my Cosyn þat Clergye is I-hoten. c 1440 York Myst. xxxiv. 350 If anye aske aftir vs Kenne thame to Caluarie. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 414 A trew Scot..kend thaim to that place. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxxvi. 55, I sall thame ken to consolatioun. |
† b. intr. and refl. To direct one's course, betake oneself, proceed, go. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 26467 Ȝif æuer aie is swa kene.. þat us after kenne, ich hine wulle aquelle. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. xx. 482 Þe kyng to yrlonde wende In þe monþe of octobre, and seþþe in may hom kende. c 1305 St. Christopher 212 in E.E.P. (1862) 65 Ouer Cristofre an arewe heng: þat toward þe king kende. c 1320 Sir Beues 334 (MS. A.) Toward his court he him kende [v.r. went anoon]. |
† 5. trans. To consign, commend, deliver, bestow. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1584 (Gött.) Al mankind forsoth he wend, To his will all suld be kend. c 1340 Ibid. 8840 (Fairf.) Ne ware þai neuer þeiþen dispende Til þai ware til Iudas kende. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2067 Þis kastel to kryst I kenne, He gef hit ay god chaunce! a 1400–50 Alexander 5383 With þat scho kende him a croun clustrid with gemmes. c 1440 Bone Flor. 1566 To Florence they can hur kenne, To lerne hur to behave hur among men. |
II. In non-causative senses.
6. To descry, see; to catch sight of, discover by sight; to look at, scan. Now only arch.
| c 1205 Lay. 1659 Þa Goffar þe king þane castel kennede..swiðe wa him was. a 1300 Body & Soul 109 Thine eiȝene are blinde and connen nouȝt kenne. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4703 Takens sal be in þe son and in þe mone, And in þe sternes þat in heven men may ken. c 1450 Holland Howlat 587 In a feld of siluer..Of a kynde colour thre coddis I kend. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 101 As farre as I could ken thy Chalky Cliffes..I stood vpon the Hatches in the storme. 1652–62 Heylin Cosmogr. Introd. (1682) 19 So great a space of the earth, as a quick sight can ken in an open field. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 286 To ken the prospect round, If cottage were in view. 1768 Beattie Minstr. i. xx, And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn, And villager abroad at early toil. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner iii. 67 Indistinctly may be kenned The vanguard, following close behind. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxiii, Unable to ken the course of the bird of Jove. 1880 W. Watson Prince's Quest (1892) 75 And far below him..a city exceeding fair to ken. |
b. absol. To see, look. Obs. or arch.
| 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1650) 166 Some watched diligently, kenning from towers, casements and high places. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. iii. i. (1622) 63 Places, from whence a man might farthest kenne. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 374 Spaces distant from them as far as a man may ken. 1755 Young Centaur iii. Wks. 1757 IV. 186 Not the keenest discernment can ken through the second of a minute. |
7. To recognize (at sight, or by some marks or tokens); to identify. Now north. or Sc.
| c 1205 Lay. 21443 Nu þu scalt to hælle, þer þu miht kenne muche of þine cunne. a 1300 Cursor M. 1152 Bituix quat lede sum þat þou lend, Euer sal þou and þine bi kend. c 1450 Merlin 45 ‘Sirs’, seide the kynge, ‘yef ye myght se Merlin, cowde ye hym knowen? ‘Sire’, seide thei, ‘it myght not be but that we sholde hym kenne wele, yef we myght him se’. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 14 Me whenas he had privily espide Bearing the shield..He kend it streight. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 63 To ken the lione be his taes. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 14 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gate, He rises on the toe. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 506 King James, who did ken a man of merit as well as any prince in Christendom. 1800 Coleridge Christabel ii. 446 He kenn'd In the beautiful lady the child of his friend! 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. iii. ¶1 He kenned me in a twinkling, though I had changed my dress. Mod. Sc. Ye're grown that big, I hardly kent ye. |
b. To (be able to) distinguish (one person or thing from another). Now Sc.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 23116 (Trin.), Fro comynynge of cristen men Þo careful shul be eþ to ken. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3911 The ton fro þe tother was tore for to ken In sight at þat sodan. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 42 The shepheards swayne you cannot wel ken, But it be by his pryde, from other men. Mod. Sc. They're that like, I never ken the tane frae the tither. |
† 8. To recognize, acknowledge, admit to be (genuine, valid, or what is claimed). Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 750 And thai as lord suld..him ken. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 77 Now new lawis kennyn prescripcoun, þat if ani be in posessioun of oþer mennis þingis by a cercle of ȝeris, he schal ioi it as his oune. c 1400 in Neilson Trial by Combat (1890) 229 Schir, kenys thow this is thi sele and thine appele? c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5196 His mysse þat he moght ken. |
b. Sc. Law. To recognize (a person) as legal heir or successor to an estate; usually, to serve a widow to a life-rent of the third part of her deceased husband's lands.
| 1468 Burgh Rec. Aberdeen 20 Mar. (Spalding Cl.) I. 28 Askande him to be kende to the saide lande as air til his fadir. c 1575 Balfour's Practicks (1754) 106 Ane lady havand the tierce of ony landis..the schiref of the schire sould ken hir to hir thrid part thairof. 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law ii. Tit. ix. §29 She..cannot remove tenants, till the Sheriff kens her to her terce. 1808 Jamieson, To ken a widow to her terce,..a phrase still used in our courts of law. |
† 9. To get to know, ascertain, find out. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 270 Clerkis and lewed men suld..trie þe soth and ken, in whom þe wrong lay. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1452 What myschefe befell, þere no cause was to ken but vnkynd wordes. 1450–70 Golagros & Gaw. 1325 Sa that the caus may be kend and knawin throw skill. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. i. vi. 23 Calde..To ken of whence and where they would. |
10. To know (a person); to have acquaintance with; to be acquainted with. Now Sc.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 327 That he wald trawaile our the se..And dre myscheiff quhar nane hym kend. c 1420 Sir Amadace ii, Sithun duelle here, quere I was borne..And I am so wele kennit. c 1450 Merlin 72 He mette with a man that he nothinge kenned. a 1568 Peebles to the Play iii, Than spak hir fallowis, that hir kend, Be still, my joy, and greit not. 1597 Montgomerie Sonn. xxvi, In Cupids court ȝe knau I haif bene kend. 1606 Holland Sueton. Annot. 14 Al while that I you kenned not, I cald you L[ord] & King. 1820 Scott Monast. ix, I have kend every wench in the Halidome of St. Mary's. Mod. Sc. ‘Everybodie kens Watty the Post.’ Is there oniebodie ye ken here? |
11. To know (a thing); to have knowledge of or about (a thing, place, person, etc.), to be acquainted with; † to understand. Now chiefly Sc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12148 (Gött.), I kene wele þat ilk siquar Quen þat ȝu ȝur moderis bare. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 78 Symple men Þat strange Inglis can not ken. c 1418 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 243, I have wel lever No more kyn than my a, b, c. c 1430 Christ's Compl. 489 in Pol., Rel., & L. Poems 198 Þouȝ y cowþe al kunnynge ken. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 85, I wote thou kenst little good, So vainely t'aduaunce thy headlesse hood. 1584 Peele Arraignm. Paris i. iv, That kens the painted paths of pleasant Ida. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 281 He did ken the ambassador-craft as well as any in his age. 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. ii. App. (1852) 218 Any governour that kens Hobbianism. 1827 Coleridge Sibyl. Leaves Poems II. 300 Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow. 1879 J. Armstrong Kielder Hunt (in Northumbld. Gloss.), He kens the hauds on Tosson hills, he kens the holes at Rae. |
b. To know, understand, or perceive (a fact, etc.); to be aware of, to be aware that (what, etc.). Now chiefly Sc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6418 Quils moyses heild vp his hend It was wel in þat bateil kend. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 375 Ȝe suld wele ken, Þat here slane has bene mony men. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 799 Litill kennyth he what I may doo. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. iii. 137, I ken rycht weill ȝe knaw ȝour dewtie. a 1634 Randolph Poems, Eglogue Assemblies Cotswold (1638) 115 Dost thou ken, Collen, what the cause might be Of such a dull and generall Lethargie? 1714 Gay Sheph. Week iii. 89 Now plain I ken whence Love his Rise begun. 1844 Dickens Christmas Carol iii. (Househ. ed.) 23/1 Little kenned the lamp-lighter that he had any company but Christmas. 1865 G. Macdonald A. Forbes 43, I dinna ken what ye mean, Alec. |
c. With compl. (Chiefly in pass.) Now Sc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6715 (Cott.) If his lauerd kenne him kene of horn. c 1300 Ibid. 25151 (Cott. Galba) For goddes sun may he noght be kend. c 1400 Melayne 1437 Ȝitt are we ten thowsande here..Þat wele for kene are kende. 1721 Ramsay Addr. Town Counc. Edin. iii, To you, ne'er kend to guide ill..My case I plainly tell. 1829 Hogg Sheph. Cal. I. 232 Ye're kenn'd for an auld-farrant man. 1869 C. Gibbon R. Gray iii, Ivan Carrack was ay kenned to be ready tae flee in the face o' Providence. |
12. a. intr. or absol. To have knowledge (of or about something). † Also with inf.: To know how to, to be able to (obs.).
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 357 Þenne he cryed so cler, þat kenne myȝt alle. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1583 Of all þe craftes to ken as þere course askit. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 454 No creatur kernis of our doingis. 1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerp. 3 If he be happy that can Causes scan, You ken to plead our Causes. 1721 Ramsay Prospect of Plenty i, A lairdship wide, That yields mair plenty than he kens to guide. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxix, It was his father then ye kent o'. |
† b. refl. To have skill; to be accomplished in. (= F. se connaître en.) Obs. rare.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 202 He kennede him in heore craft and kneuȝ mony gummes. c 1450 Holland Howlat 703 The Boytour callit was cuke, that him weile kend In craftis of the ketchyne. |
▪ VII. † ken, v.2 Obs.
Forms: 1 cennan, 2–4 kennen. pa. tense 1 cende, kende, 2 kennede, 4 kynned. pa. pple. 1 (ᵹe)cenned, 3–4 kenned, 4 (y)kennyd, (y)kend, kynned, 5 kynde.
[OE. cęnnan = OS. kennian (pa. pple. kennit), OHG. (ki)chęnnan:—OTeut. *kannjan, f. *kan-, second ablaut grade of the series kin-, kan-, kun- (see kin). See also kene.]
1. trans. To generate, engender, beget; to conceive; to give birth to.
| .. Leiden Riddle 2 Mec se ueta uong..ob his innaðae aerest caendae [Exeter Bk. cende]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. i. 25 Heo cende hyre frum-cennedan sunu. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 31 Ure lafdi seinte marie kennede of holie lichame ure louerd ihesu crist. 1340 Ayenb. 12 Þe zone..wes y-kend of þe holi gost. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xvi. 210 He shalbe so kynde That a madyn, sothely, whiche neuer synde, Shall hym bere. |
| fig. c 825 Vesp. Psalter vii. 15 Sehðe cenneð unrehtwisnisse. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 915 Hov schulde I huyde me fro hem þat hatz his hate kynned. |
b. absol. To conceive or bear a child.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xviii. 13 Sceal ic nu eald wif cennan? c 1205 Lay. 15789 Wimmon þurh heore cræfte kenneð anan. |
2. intr. To be conceived or born. Of eggs: To hatch out.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1072 Bot much clener watz hir corse, God kynned þerinne. 13.. St. Erkenwolde 209 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 271 Before þat kynned ȝour Criste by cristene acounte A þousande ȝere. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 51 [She] houeth the eyren..And with hir corps keuereth hem till þat þey kenne. |
▪ VIII. ken
obs. f. keen a.