Etymology Dictionary

KEN,  to know.  (Scand.)   Not E., but Scand.   M. E. kennen, to know, discern.   'Men may hem kennen by smelle of brimstoon' = men may know them by smell of brimstone; Chaucer, C. T. 16353.—Icel. kenna, to know. + Swed. känna. + Dan. kiende. + Du. kennen. + G. kennen.   β. The sense 'to know' is Scand.; but it is not the original sense.   The verb is, etymologically, a causal one, signifying to make to know, to teach, shew; a sense frequently found in M. E.   'Kenne me on Crist to bileue' = teach me to believe in Christ; P. Plowman, B. i. 81.   Such is also the sense of A. S. cennan, Grein, i. 156; and of Goth. kannjan, to make known, John, xvii. 26.   γ. This explains the form of the word; kennan = kannian, causal of Teutonic KANN, base of KONNAN, to know, spelt cunnan in A. S.  and kunnan in Gothic; see Fick, iii. 40.   [The e is the regular substitute for a, when i follows in the next syllable.]   For further remarks, see Can (1).   Der. ken, sb., Cymb. iii. 6. 6; a coined word, not in early use.