ken
English
/kɛn/
verb
Definitions
- (obsolete) To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English kennen (beget, conceive, give birth to, sustain, hatch out, generate, nourish, give birth, nurture, develop) inherited from Old English cennan (make known, declare, acknowledge, beget, conceive, give birth to, generate, give birth) inherited from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną.
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*kanjaną
Gloss
Timeline
Distribution of cognates by language
Geogrpahic distribution of cognates
Cognates and derived terms
- aken English
- beken English
- foreken English
- kenner English
- misken English
- miskenning English
- outken English
- spell English
- spellken English
- unken English
- Kenner German
- Kennleuchte German
- Kennmal German
- Kenntnis German
- Kennwort German
- Kennzahl German
- Kennzeichen German
- auskennen German
- bekennen German
- erkennen German
- kennen German
- kennen lernen German
- verkennen German
- *kanjaną Proto-Germanic
- *kannijaną Proto-Germanic
- kjenna Norwegian Nynorsk
- menneskekjennar Norwegian Nynorsk
- acennan Old English
- cennan Old English
- cenning Old English
- gecennan Old English
- *miskennen Middle English
- bekennen Middle English
- kennen Middle English
- kenning Middle English
- kenna Old Norse
- erkende Danish
- koni Esperanto
- kennan Old High German
- erkennen Luxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- kennen Luxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- קענען Yiddish
- *kannijan gmw-pro
- *kennian Old Saxon
- kenne Alemannic German
- ken Scots
- kennen Low German