Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To make cold, to sharpen.
Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested. · Fierce, intense, vehement. · Having a fine edge or point; sharp. · Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
From Middle English kene (“bold, brave, sharp”), from Old English cēne (“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise”), from Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Cognate with Danish køn (“handsome, pretty”), Dutch kien (“smart, wise, able”), koen (“daring, valiant, doughty, courageous”), German kühn (“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”), Icelandic kænn (“wise, crafty, clever, able”), Faroese kønur (“expert (in, on), experienced, skilful, able, capable”), Scots keen (“lively, brisk; avaricious”). Related to Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). More at cunning, can.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "kene",
"4": "",
"5": "bold, brave, sharp"
},
"expansion": "Middle English kene (“bold, brave, sharp”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "cēne",
"4": "",
"5": "keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise"
},
"expansion": "Old English cēne (“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*kōniz",
"4": "",
"5": "knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable”)"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
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"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*ǵneh₃-",
"4": "",
"5": "to know"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "køn",
"3": "",
"4": "handsome, pretty"
},
"expansion": "Danish køn (“handsome, pretty”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "kien",
"3": "",
"4": "smart, wise, able"
},
"expansion": "Dutch kien (“smart, wise, able”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "kühn",
"3": "",
"4": "bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome"
},
"expansion": "German kühn (“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "kænn",
"3": "",
"4": "wise, crafty, clever, able"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic kænn (“wise, crafty, clever, able”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "kønur",
"3": "",
"4": "expert (in, on), experienced, skilful, able, capable"
},
"expansion": "Faroese kønur (“expert (in, on), experienced, skilful, able, capable”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "keen",
"3": "",
"4": "lively, brisk; avaricious"
},
"expansion": "Scots keen (“lively, brisk; avaricious”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "cunnan",
"3": "",
"4": "to know how to, be able to"
},
"expansion": "Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"kene",
"kene#Middle_English"
],
[
"bold",
"bold#Adjective"
],
[
"brave",
"brave#Adjective"
],
[
"sharp",
"sharp#Adjective"
],
[
"cēne",
"cene#Old_English"
],
[
"fierce",
"fierce"
],
[
"warlike",
"warlike"
],
[
"powerful",
"powerful"
],
[
"learned",
"learned#Adjective"
],
[
"clever",
"clever"
],
[
"wise",
"wise#Adjective"
],
[
"*kōniz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kōniz"
],
[
"knowledgeable",
"knowledgeable"
],
[
"skilful",
"skilful"
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[
"experienced",
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"clever",
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"capable",
"capable"
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[
"*ǵneh₃-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵneh₃-"
],
[
"know",
"know"
],
[
"køn",
"køn#Danish"
],
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"handsome",
"handsome"
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[
"pretty",
"pretty"
],
[
"kien",
"kien#Dutch"
],
[
"smart",
"smart#Adjective"
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[
"able",
"able#Adjective"
],
[
"koen",
"koen#Dutch"
],
[
"daring",
"daring#Adjective"
],
[
"valiant",
"valiant"
],
[
"doughty",
"doughty"
],
[
"courageous",
"courageous"
],
[
"kühn",
"kühn#German"
],
[
"audacious",
"audacious"
],
[
"hardy",
"hardy"
],
[
"venturesome",
"venturesome"
],
[
"kænn",
"kænn#Icelandic"
],
[
"kønur",
"kønur#Faroese"
],
[
"keen",
"keen#Scots"
],
[
"lively",
"lively"
],
[
"brisk",
"brisk"
],
[
"avaricious",
"avaricious"
],
[
"cunnan",
"cunnan#Old_English"
],
[
"be able to",
"be able to"
],
[
"cunning",
"cunning#English"
],
[
"can",
"can#English"
]
],
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"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To make cold, to sharpen."
],
"tags": [
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"glosses": [
"Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.",
"Fierce, intense, vehement.",
"Having a fine edge or point; sharp.",
"Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp."
],
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