kenning

Meanings

1. Sight, view; specifically a distant view at sea.
2. The range or extent of vision, especially at sea; (by extension) a marine measure of approximately twenty miles.
3. As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.

1. present participle and gerund of ken.

1. A chalaza or tread of an egg (a spiral band attaching the yolk of the egg to the eggshell); a cicatricula.

1. 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.

1. A dry measure equivalent to half a bushel; a container with that capacity.

1. A surname.

Etymology

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.