ken

Significat

Verb

1. To know, perceive or understand.
2. (obsolete) To discover by sight; to catch sight of; to descry.

Noun

1. Knowledge, perception, or sight.
2. Range of sight.

Noun

A house, especially a den of thieves.

Noun

Youth or children's group.

Noun

A Japanese unit of length equal to six shakus.

Noun

The tsurugi (type of sword).

Pronunciat com a (IPA)

/kɛn/

Etimologia

Northern and Scottish dialects 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.
The noun meaning “range of sight” is a nautical abbreviation of present participle kenning.