kenning
Syllables: ken·ning/ˈkɛnɪŋ/
kenning noun: sight, view; specifically a distant view at sea. Also the present participle and gerund of ken.
Noun (1)
kenning (plural kennings)
- Sight, view; specifically a distant view at sea.
- Touching the moſt remarkeable things of the Country and our proceeding from the 17 of Auguſt 1585. till the 18. of Iune 1586. we made Roanoack our habitation. The vtmoſt of our diſcouery Southward was Secotan as we eſteemed 80. leagues from Roanoacke. The paſſage from thence was thought a broad...1624, Richard Grenville, “Sir Richard Grenuills Voyage to Virginia, for Sir Walter Raleigh. 1585.”, in Iohn [i.e., John] Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles...
- And becauſe in the beginning of my Trouble, when in the midſt of the Tempeſt, I had a kenning of the Harbour, which I hope now by your Majeſty's Favour I am entring into; I made a tender to your Majeſty of two Works, a Hiſtory of England, and a Digeſt of your Laws: as I have performed a Part of the...1733, Francis Bacon, “XXIX. To the King; Presenting the History of Henry VII. and a Proposal for a New Digest of the Laws of England.”, in Peter Shaw, compiler, The Philosophical Works of Francis...
- Synonyms:
- ken
- The range or extent of vision, especially at sea; (by extension) a marine measure of approximately twenty miles.
- Scylley is a Kenning, that is to ſay about an xx. Miles from the very Weſteſte Point of Cornewaulle.1711, John Leland, edited by Thomas Hearne, The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary. … Publish’d from the Original MS. in the Bodleian Library by Thomas Hearne M.A. To which is Added Antoninus’s...
- The obſcure text, of which the light is only to be ſeen by groping our way through "antres vaſt," and at times through "deſarts idle" of earth beneath, is frequently ſo highly elevated in the page, that it is barely entitled to [John] Milton's appellation of darkneſs viſible; and now and then it...1793 September, “Art. XII. The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare; Collated Verbatim with the Most Authentic Copies, and Revised: [...] By Edmund Malone. Crown 8vo. 10 Vols. about 600 Pages in...
- As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.
- put in a kenning of salt
- His father was none so ill a man, though a kenning on the wrong side of the law, and no friend to my family, that I should waste my breath to be defending him!1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Heather on Fire”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 111
Noun (2)
kenning (plural kennings)
Noun (3)
kenning (plural kennings)
- A metaphorical compound or phrase, used especially in Germanic poetry (Old English or Old Norse) whereby a simple thing is described in an allusive way.
- [A]s we are all aware, the Skalds used all sorts of kennings from Jewels, Gold, Silver, &c., to betoken Women, &c. Gold is called "The Sea's Blink (Blik)", and so on, and a female is "Gold's Mistress", "The Goddess of the Golden Jewel", and so forth.1867–1868, George Stephens, “Bracteates”, in The Old-Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England, Now First Collected and Deciphered, volume II, London: John Russell Smith; Copenhagen...
- I venture to say that a close study of the style of Piers Plowman would thoroughly dispose of alliteration as chief factor in the kenning-process.1887 January, Francis B. Gummere, “Wilhelm Bode: Die Kenningar in der angelsächsen Dichtung. Mit Ausblicken auf andere Litteraturen. Darmstadt und Leipzig, 1886. [Strasburg Dissertation].”, in A....
Noun (4)
kenning (plural kennings)
- A dry measure equivalent to half a bushel; a container with that capacity.
- In the hall. One large table, with frame. 10s. ij cobbordes 8s. j fourme, j chaire, and j kenninge measure, 12d.1585–1586 January 18, “LXIII. Testamentum Johannis Ogle. [63. Will of John Ogle.]”, in [William Greenwell], editor, Wills and Inventories from the Registry at Durham. Part II (The Publications of the...
- He called one day at Mr. Hepple's, of Needless Hall, in a forlorn condition, seeking his seed (a present of corn given at seed-time). […] After this conversation, Mr. Hepple served him with a kenning of oats, which was a much greater quantity than he usually gave on such occasions.1828, chapter XXX, in E. Mackenzie, editor, compiled by James Thompson, A New, Improved, and Authentic Life of James Allan, the Celebrated Northumberland Piper; Detailing His Surprising Adventures in...
Proper noun capitalized: Kenning
Kenning (plural Kennings)
- A surname.
Also used as
kenning is also the present participle and gerund of ken.
kenning meaning in Tagalog
kenning in Tagalog
- metaphorical phrase used in Germanic poetry
- saalam
Examples of kenning in a sentence
- The paſſage from thence was thought a broad ſound within the maine, being without kenning of land, yet full of flats and ſhoulds that our Pinnaſſe could not paſſe, […]1624, Richard Grenville, “Sir Richard Grenuills Voyage to Virginia, for Sir Walter Raleigh. 1585.”, in Iohn [i.e., John] Smith, The...
- If we now move to the second helmingr, Kock tries to unscramble the two kenningar[…], but this is over-zealous, since there are ample parallels for such braiding of kenning elements.2006, Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, Turnhout, Antwerp, Belgium: Brepols, →OCLC, page 149:
- Taken by themselves, the kennings are not especially witty, and calling a ship “a sea-stallion” and the open sea “the whale's road” is no great feat.2014, M.J. Toswell, Borges the Unacknowledged Medievalist, New York: Palgrave Macmillan:
Synonyms of kenning
Forms of kenning
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | kennings |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Kennings |
Origin of kenning
From Middle English kenning, kening (“instruction, teaching; experience, knowledge; sight, view”), from kennen (“to make known, point out, reveal; to direct, instruct, teach; to know, perceive”) + -ing. Kennen is derived from Old English cennan (“to make known, declare”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną (“to make known”), the causative form of *kunnaną (“to know, be familiar with, recognize; to be able to, know how”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Compare Danish kending (“acquaintance”), and see further at ken. By surface analysis, ken + -ing.
From ken (“to beget, bring forth”), from Middle English kennen (“to beget, conceive (offspring); to give birth to”), from Old English cennan, gecennan (“to beget (offspring); to give birth to; to bring forth, produce”); see further at etymology 1.
A learned borrowing from Old Norse kenning, from kenna (“to know; to perceive”), from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną (“to make known”); see further at etymology 1. Compare can, keen, ken.
Words formed from kenning
Words that rhyme with kenning
Questions about kenning
- What does kenning mean?
- Kenning means sight, view; specifically a distant view at sea.
- What is kenning in Tagalog?
- Kenning in Tagalog is saalam. See Kenning meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use kenning in a sentence?
- The paſſage from thence was thought a broad ſound within the maine, being without kenning of land, yet full of flats and ſhoulds that our Pinnaſſe could not paſſe, […]
- What part of speech is kenning?
- Kenning can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce kenning?
- Kenning is pronounced /ˈkɛnɪŋ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of kenning?
- The plural of kenning is kennings.
Words near kenning in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kenning (page history and authors); Kenning (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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