ken

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• /kɛn/
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• pin-pen-merger: /kɪn/
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɛn
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• homophone: ken
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• homophone: kin (pin–pen merger)
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• homophone: Ken
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• CMU ARPABET: K EH1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From a nautical abbreviation of Middle English kenning, present participle of the verb kennen (“to make known, point out, reveal; to direct, instruct, teach; to know, perceive”).

Of unknown origin. Perhaps from kennel.

From Hebrew קֵן (qēn, “nest”).

Borrowed from Japanese 間.

Borrowed from Japanese 剣.

From Middle English kennen (“to give birth, conceive, generate, beget; to develop (as a fetus), hatch out (of eggs); to sustain, nourish, nurture”), from Old English cennan (“to give birth, conceive, generate, beget”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną.

Northern English dialects and Scots language from Middle English kennen, from Old English cennan (“make known, declare, acknowledge”) originally “to make known”, causative of cunnan (“to become acquainted with, to know”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, causative of *kunnaną (“be able”), from which comes the verb can. Cognate with West Frisian kenne (“to know; recognise”), Dutch kennen (“to know”), German kennen (“to know, be acquainted with someone/something”), Norwegian Bokmål kjenne, Norwegian Nynorsk kjenna, Old Norse kenna (“to know, perceive”), Swedish känna (“to know, feel”), Danish kende (“to know”). See also: can, con.

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Esperanto: scio — knowledge or perception
• Georgian: ცოდნა (codna) — knowledge or perception
• Polish: percepcja — knowledge or perception
• Polish: zrozumienie — knowledge or perception
• Russian: кругозо́р (krugozór) — knowledge or perception
• Serbo-Croatian: vidokrug — knowledge or perception
• Serbo-Croatian: shvaćanje — knowledge or perception
• Finnish: näkyvyys — range of sight
• Polish: widok — range of sight
• Dutch: kennen — to know, perceive or understand
• German: kennen — to know, perceive or understand
• Italian: comprendere — to know, perceive or understand
• Italian: capire — to know, perceive or understand
• Italian: intendere — to know, perceive or understand
• Low German: kennen — to know, perceive or understand
• Polish: wiedzieć — to know, perceive or understand
• Russian: знать (znatʹ) — to know, perceive or understand
• Serbo-Croatian: shvaćati — to know, perceive or understand
• Serbo-Croatian: znati — to know, perceive or understand
• Serbo-Croatian: spoznati — to know, perceive or understand
• Spanish: conocer — to know, perceive or understand