cennan

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, causative form of *kunnaną (“to know”).

Cognate with Old Saxon kennian (Dutch kennen), Old Frisian kenna, Old High German chennan (German kennen), Old Norse kenna (Danish kende, spelling before the writing reform of 1948: kjende), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kannjan, “to declare”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈken.nɑn/

Verb

cennan

1. to make known, declare
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Nativity of our Lord"

     Þeos towritennys wearð aræred fram ðam ealdormen Cyrino, of Sirian lande, þæt ælc man ofer-hēafod sceolde cennan his gebyrde, and his áre on ðære byrig þe hé to gehyrde.

     This enrolment was set forth from Cyrenius, the governor of Syria—that every man in general should declare his birth and his possession in the city to which he belonged.

2. to produce, bring forth, declare

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ġecennan

Descendants

• Middle English: kennen, kenin
  • English: ken
  • Scots: ken
  • Yola: ee-kent (ppl.)

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵonh₁éyeti, the causative formation of the root *ǵenh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈken.nɑn/

Verb

cennan

1. to give birth to (a child), to deliver, to bear

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ācennan (“to bring forth (a child)”)

Descendants

• Middle English: kennen

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “cennan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.