knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception.
an idea beyond one's ken.
range of sight or vision.
Chiefly Scot.
to know, have knowledge of or about, or be acquainted with (a person or thing).
to understand or perceive (an idea or situation).
Scots Law. to acknowledge as heir; recognize by a judicial act.
Archaic. to see; descry; recognize.
British Dialect, Archaic.
to declare, acknowledge, or confess (something).
to teach, direct, or guide (someone).
dialect to know
dialect to understand; perceive
archaic (tr) to see
First recorded before 900; Middle English kennen “to make known, see, know,” Old English cennan “to make known, declare”; cognate with Old Norse kenna, German kennen; akin to can 1, know 1 ( def. )
The noun ken means "range of vision or comprehension." If quantum mechanics is beyond your ken, you don't understand it, or it is beyond your scope of knowledge. Ken is rarely used today outside of the phrase, "beyond one's ken." It goes all the way back, however, to Proto Indo-European, the reconstructed ancestor of most European, Near Eastern, and South Asian languages. Coming from the root *gno- "to know," ken has many relatives in modern English such as incognito, cunning, and know itself.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last week, judge Ken Curry granted a temporary injunction that would have allowed Sorsby to play for the Red Raiders in 2026.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
Residents of the five-mile oceanfront road have included Ken Griffin, Henry Kravis and Robert Kraft.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that same day asking him to “investigate” any counties seeking to implement moratoriums and “explore any necessary legal actions.”
From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026
Ken Klippenstein, independent journalist covering national security and U.S. politics.
From Slate • Jun. 4, 2026
Fortunately Ken knew the line of march, and since they didn’t stop at any houses, it wasn’t too long until they caught up.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
