英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

ken (n.1)[ken 词源字典]: "range of sight," 1580s, a nautical abbreviation of kenning.[ken etymology, ken origin, 英语词源]
kendal (n.): green woolen cloth, late 14c., from place name in Westmoreland where it was manufactured. The place so called for being in the dale of the River Kent.
Kenelm: masc. proper name, Old English Cenhelm, from cene "brave, bold" (see keen (adj.)) + helm "helmet" (see helmet).
Kennedy: Irish surname, said to be from Old Irish cinneide "ugly head."
kennel (n.): c. 1300, from Anglo-French *kenil, Old French chenil, from Vulgar Latin *canile, from Latin canem (nominative canis) "dog" (see canine (n.)). With suffix as in ovile "sheepfold" from ovus, equile "horse-stable" from equus, etc. As a verb, 1550s, from the noun.
Kenneth: masc. proper name, Scottish, from Gaelic Caioneach, literally "handsome, comely."
kenning (n.): Old English cenning "procreation; declaration in court," present participle of ken (v.). From early 14c. in senses "sign, token; teaching, instruction;" c. 1400 as "mental cognition." From 1871 as "periphrastic expression in early Germanic poetry;" in this sense it probably is from a modern learned use of Old Norse cognate verb kenna "to know, to recognize, to feel or perceive; to call, to name (in a formal poetic metaphor)."
In the whole poem of Beowulf there are scarcely half a dozen of them [similes], and these of the simplest character, such as comparing a ship to a bird. Indeed, such a simple comparison as this is almost equivalent to the more usual "kenning" (as it is called in Icelandic), such as "brimfugol," where, instead of comparing the ship to a bird, the poet simply calls it a sea-bird, preferring the direct assertion to the indirect comparison. [Henry Sweet, "Sketches of the History of Anglo-Saxon Poetry," London, 1871]
keno (n.): game of chance (akin to bingo), 1814, American English, probably from French quine "five winning numbers in a lottery," from Latin quini "five each," distributive of quinque "five" (see five). The numbers are arranged in rows of five.
keno-: before vowels, ken-, word-forming element meaning "empty," from comb. form of Greek kenos "empty," from PIE root *ken- (3) "empty."
kenosis (n.): from Greek kenosis "an emptying," from kenoein "to empty," from PIE *ken- (3) "empty." From Phil. ii:7. Related: Kenotic.
Kent: Old English, from Latin Canticum, Greek Kantion (51 B.C.E.), an ancient Celtic name often explained as "coastal district," but possibly "land of the hosts or armies." Related: Kentish.
Kentucky: U.S. state, earlier a county of Virginia, organized 1776; the name is of Iroquois or Shawnee origin, perhaps a Wyandot (Iroquoian) word meaning "meadow" (compare Seneca geda'geh "at the field"); the original use in English seems to have been the river name; the native use perhaps was first in reference to a village in what now is Clark County known in Shawnee as Eskippakithiki. Related: Kentuckian.
Kenya: African nation, named for Mount Kenya, which probably is a shortening of Kikuyu Kirinyaga, from kere nyaga, literally "white mountain" (though just south of the equator, it is snowcapped). Related: Kenyan.
kepi (n.): soldier's peaked cap, 1861, from French képi, from German Swiss käppi, diminutive of German Kappe "a cap," from Late Latin cappa "hood, cap" (see cap (n.)).
kept: past tense of keep (v.).
ker-: U.S. slang prefix, by 1836 as che-, 1843 as ker-, possibly from influence of German or Dutch ge-, past participial prefix; or ultimately echoic of the sound of the fall of some heavy body.
keratin (n.): basic substance of horns, nails, feathers, etc., 1847, from Greek keras (genitive keratos) "horn" (see kerato-) + chemical suffix -in (2).
kerato-: before vowels, kerat-, word-forming element meaning "horn, horny," from Greek keras (genitive keratos) "horn," from PIE *ker- (1) "horn, head" (see horn (n.)).
kerb (n.): 1660s, a variant of curb (n.). The preferred British English spelling in certain specialized senses, especially "edging of stone on a pavement" (1805).
kerchief (n.): early 13c., kovrechief "piece of cloth used to cover part of the head," especially a woman's headcloth or veil, from Anglo-French courchief, Old French couvrechief, literally "cover head," from couvrir "to cover" (see cover (v.)) + chief "head" (see chief). From late 14c. as "piece of cloth used about the person" generally, and from c. 1400 as "piece of cloth carried in the hand" to wipe the face, etc. (compare handkerchief).