Make Your Point: KEN

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pronounce KEN:

KEN

connect this word to others:

A high five to Rolland for suggesting we explore the word ken!

It means "knowledge or understanding," and it's most often seen in the phrase "beyond your ken," meaning "beyond your knowledge, beyond your understanding."

Other synonyms of ken include grasp, vision, consciousness, awareness, appre____ion, and cogn___nce.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Ken" traces back to Old English and first meant "to know, or to make known."

Today it almost always means "what someone knows," and we use it in the phrase "beyond one's ken," meaning beyond what that person knows, understands, or is aware of.

In other words, your ken is your scope of knowledge: the things that you know and understand.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the uncountable kind: "Those are mysteries beyond my ken."

Other forms:

None are common.

how to use it:

When you want an old, clear, simple, graceful, semi-common word meaning "scope of someone's knowledge and understanding," pick "ken."

We most often talk about facts, topics, concepts, reasons, motivations, skills, experiences and so on that are beyond someone's ken, or beyond the ken of a certain kind of person. "Astrophysics is beyond my ken." "Astrophysics is beyond the ken of your typical suburban parent."

examples:

"The rules of advanced physics, as tossed out every 15 minutes or so [in the movie Interstellar], are beyond the ken of most movie-goers."
— Richard Corliss, Time, 29 October 2014

"[Brit Marling] is an understated and intense screen presence, with the aura of someone who has seen things beyond our mortal ken. She seems like she'd make a great cult leader."
— James Poniewozik, New York Times, 16 December 2016

has this page helped you understand "ken"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "ken" without saying "awareness" or "understanding."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Some weird, puzzling, niche, or complex thing) lies beyond (my ken, or the ken of most people, or the ken of a certain kind of people)."

Example 1: "Elon Musk is rapidly approaching trillionaireship. Why he doesn't end childhood hunger is beyond my ken."

Example 2: "Since crypto involves complex mathematics it therefore lies beyond the ken of most people."
— John Naughton, The Guardian, 13 May 2018

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Name the Game!"

I'll share some tidbits about a particular board game with a one-word name, and you try to name it.

You can scroll all the way down to see the game's real name. Maybe you'll come up with the correct name, or one that’s just as apt!

Try this one today:

The game's name is 3 syllables.

It starts with G.

"As executioners pandering to the masses [during the French Revolution], the players are trying to behead the most popular nobles."

review this word:

1. The opposite of KEN could be

A. INFINITY or PERPETUITY.
B. IGNORANCE or NESCIENCE.
C. DILIGENCE or ASSIDUITY.

2. From Sabaa Tahir's novel An Ember in the Ashes: "The Augur's head is tilted as if he's listening to something _____."

A. above our ken
B. beyond our ken
C. deep within our ken

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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