Ken

/kɛn/ · verb

Meaning

(obsolete) To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life)..

Definitions by Sense

1. (obsolete) To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).
2. (transitive, chiefly Scotland) To know, perceive or understand.
3. (obsolete, chiefly Scotland) To discover by sight; to catch sight of; to descry.
4. Range of perception.
5. Knowledge, perception, or sight.
6. (nautical) Range of sight.
7. (slang, UK, regional, thieves' cant) A house, especially a den of thieves.
8. (Judaism) Youth or children's group.

Example Sentences

To the soul this ghostly bread is the learning and the teaching and the understanding in the commandments of God, wherethrough the soul is kenned and lives.

It was noted by them that kenned best that her cantrips were at their worst when the tides in the Sker Bay ebbed between the hours of twelve and one.

Johnny: Is your name Maggie? / Maggie: How'd you ken that? / Johnny: It's just a hunch. Are you looking for the, uh, petulant dwarf?

Ah thought he wis being harsh, flippant and show-oafy, until ah got sae far in. Now ah ken precisely what the cunt meant.

'Tis he. I ken the manner of his gate, / He riſes on the toe:

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.

We ken them from afar.

I had somehow the impression that he was on the point of letting go the ladder to swim away beyond my ken.

Synonyms for ken

Antonyms for ken

Related Words

Word Forms

• kens
• kenning
• kenned
• kent
• kene
• kenim
• ken

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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