KEN (kenned, kenning, kent)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: kenned    , kenning    , kent   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ken mean? 

• KEN (noun)
  The noun KEN has 2 senses:

1. range of what one can know or understand

2. the range of vision

  Familiarity information: KEN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KEN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Range of what one can know or understand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

cognizance; ken

Context example:

beyond my ken

Hypernyms ("ken" is a kind of...):

knowing (a clear and certain mental apprehension)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The range of vision

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

ken; sight

Context example:

out of sight of land

Hypernyms ("ken" is a kind of...):

compass; grasp; range; reach (the limit of capability)

 Context examples 

It’s a ’orse to a ’en in every sportin’ ’ouse and boozin’ ken from ’ere to Stepney.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Time ran on; thousands of pounds were offered in reward, for the death of Sir Danvers was resented as a public injury; but Mr. Hyde had disappeared out of the ken of the police as though he had never existed.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke and relief fell: my cramped existence all at once spread out to a plain without bounds—my powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You’re not drinkin’ black-jack in a boozin’ ken, but you are meetin’ noble, slap-up Corinthians, and it’s for you to behave as such.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)