range of knowledge or perception (esp in the phrases beyondorin one's ken)
verbWord forms: kens, kenning, kenned or kent (kɛnt)
2. Scottish and Northern England dialect
to know
3. Scottish and Northern England dialect
to understand; perceive
4. (transitive) archaic
to see
Word origin
Old English cennan; related to Old Norse kenna to perceive, Old High German kennen to make known; see can1
Ken. in British English
abbreviation for
Kentucky
Kentucky in British English
(kɛnˈtʌkɪ)
noun
1.
a state of the S central US: consists of an undulating plain in the west, the Bluegrass region in the centre, the Tennessee and Ohio River basins in the southwest, and the Appalachians in the east. Capital: Frankfort. Pop: 4 117 827 (2003 est). Area: 102 693 sq km (39 650 sq miles)
Abbreviation: Ken., Ky. or (with zip code) KY
2.
a river in central Kentucky, rising in the Cumberland Mountains and flowing northwest to the Ohio River. Length: 417 km (259 miles)
ken in American English
(kɛn)
verb transitiveWord forms: kenned or ˈkenning
1. Scottish
to know
2. Archaic
to see; look at; descry
3. Chiefly Dialectal
to recognize
verb intransitive
4. Scottish
to know (of or about)
noun
5. Rare
range of vision
6.
mental perception; range of knowledge
that is beyond my ken
Word origin
ME kennen < OE cennan, lit., to cause to know < *kannjan < base of can1, akin to Ger kennen, ON kenna, to know
More idioms containing
ken
something is beyond your ken
Examples of 'ken' in a sentence
ken
He said, lifting one shoulder towards the door as Liz closed it, `I ken him.
Skelton, Alison Scott AN OLDER WOMAN (2004)
Pobjoy didn't show bewilderment because he never did, but the quirks of the antiques business were beyond his ken.
Amanda Hemingway THE GREENSTONE GRAIL: THE SANGREAL TRILOGY ONE (2004)
The room, his mother, his wife, Dekkeret, all disappeared from his ken.