Showing results for "kenning"

• present participle of ken.

kenning

American  

[ken-ing] / ˈkɛn ɪŋ /

noun

1. a conventional poetic phrase used for or in addition to the usual name of a person or thing, especially in Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon verse, as “a wave traveler” for “a boat.”

---

kenning British  

/ ˈkɛnɪŋ /

noun

1. a conventional metaphoric name for something, esp in Old Norse and Old English poetry, such as Old English bānhūs (bone house) for "body"

---

Etymology

Origin of kenning

First recorded in 1880–85; from Old Norse: literally “teaching, doctrine, poetic periphrasis”; see origin at ken, -ing ¹

---

Explanation

A kenning, in literature, is a word or phrase that is a metaphor for something simpler. Calling a ship a "sea-steed," for example, is a kenning. You're most likely to hear the term kenning in a literature class, especially if you happen to be studying Old Norse or Old English poetry. It's part of both literary traditions to use figurative language — often in the form of a compound word or a phrase — to represent a simple word. In Old Norse, a typical kenning is "sun of the houses" for "fire." The root is the Old Norse kenna, "know, recognize, or perceive."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

kenning

Aweel, Ellangowan," she said, "wad it no hae been a bonnie thing, an the leddy had been brought-to-bed, and me at the fair o' Drumshourloch, no kenning, nor dreaming a word about it?

From Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott

Pluck up a good spirit, boys, 'tis within a kenning.

From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 4 by Peter Anthony Motteux

He was the first to recognize the significance of kenning, metaphor, and compound.

From The Translations of Beowulf A Critical Bibliography by Chauncey Brewster Tinker

Let her and him gang to the Cuttle Well, as Aaron and me went, kenning no guile and thinking none, and with their arms round one another's waists.

From Sentimental Tommy The Story of His Boyhood by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie

The hellicat ne'er-do-weel! to bring such a crew here, that will expect to find brandy as plenty as ditch-water, and he kenning sae absolutely the case in whilk we stand for the present!

From The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---