ken

ken · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    (Chiefly literary or Scottish) One's range of knowledge, understanding, or perception; what one knows or can perceive.

  2. 2.

    (Scottish) Knowledge or understanding of something.

Phrases & expressions

  • •
    beyond one's ken — Outside the range of one's knowledge or understanding
  • •
    within one's ken — Within the range of what one knows or can understand

Related words

See also: knowledge, perception, understanding
Synonyms: knowledge, range, scope, understanding

Etymology

From Old English cennan ("to make known, declare, acknowledge"), from Proto-Germanic kannijaną ("to make known"). Related to Old Norse kenna ("to know, perceive") and the verb "can" (in the sense of knowing how).