ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Ken

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /kɛn/ · Part of speech verb

Quick meaning: Ken is a verb meaning (transitive, chiefly Scotland) To know, perceive or understand.

Meaning

(transitive, chiefly Scotland) To know, perceive or understand.

More Meanings

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

Example Sentences

We ken them from afar.
'Tis he. I ken the manner of his gate, / He riſes on the toe:
I had somehow the impression that he was on the point of letting go the ladder to swim away beyond my ken.
Ah thought he wis being harsh, flippant and show-oafy, until ah got sae far in. Now ah ken precisely what the cunt meant.

Word Forms

Synonyms for ken

Depending on context, synonyms include cognizance.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include cognizance, coombe, keene, fathom, kin, keen.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.