What does kenning mean?
Definitions for kenning
ˈkɛn ɪŋken·ning
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word kenning.
Princeton's WordNet
kenningnoun
conventional metaphoric name for something, used especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry
Wikipedia
Kenning
A kenning (Icelandic: [cʰɛnːiŋk]) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English poetry. They continued to be a feature of Icelandic poetry (including rímur) for centuries, together with the closely related heiti. A kenning has two parts: a base-word (also known as a head-word) and a determinant. For example, the base-word of the kenning "íss rauðra randa" ('icicle of red shields' [SWORD], Einarr Skúlason: Øxarflokkr 9) is íss ('ice, icicle') and the determinant is rǫnd ('rim, shield-rim, shield'). The thing, person, place or being to which the kenning refers is known as its referent (in this case a sword). Although kennings are sometimes hyphenated in English translation, Old Norse poetry did not require kennings to be in normal word order, nor do the parts of the kenning need to be side-by-side. The lack of grammatical cases in modern English makes this aspect of kennings difficult to translate.
ChatGPT
kenning
A kenning is a type of metaphorical phrase or compound word used in poetry, especially in Old Norse and Old English literature, which replaces a single, concrete noun. It often contains a significant, indirect or symbolic meaning and helps to create vivid imagery. A kenning can involve multiple words, usually two, connected with a hyphen or written back to back. For example, "whale-road" was a kenning used to mean the sea.
Webster Dictionary
Kenning
of Ken
Kenningverb
range of sight
Kenningverb
the limit of vision at sea, being a distance of about twenty miles
Etymology: [See Ken, v. t.]
Wikidata
Kenning
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry. For example, Old Norse poets might replace sverð, the regular word for “sword”, with a more abstract compound such as “wound-hoe”, or a genitive phrase such as randa íss “ice of shields”. The term kenning has been applied by modern scholars to similar figures of speech in other languages too, especially Old English.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
KENNING
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Kenning is ranked #30701 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Kenning surname appeared 759 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Kenning.
95.9% or 728 total occurrences were White.
1.8% or 14 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
0.9% or 7 total occurrences were Asian.
0.7% or 6 total occurrences were of two or more races.
Matched Categories
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1734","2"],["1736","2"],["1737","2"],["1750","2"],["1753","1"],["1765","2"],["1766","2"],["1769","1"],["1776","1"],["1777","2"],["1778","2"],["1780","3"],["1781","1"],["1783","1"],["1784","1"],["1786","1"],["1787","1"],["1789","2"],["1790","3"],["1795","2"],["1796","2"],["1797","2"],["1800","3"],["1801","1"],["1802","4"],["1803","8"],["1804","6"],["1805","7"],["1806","9"],["1807","1"],["1808","6"],["1809","4"],["1810","5"],["1811","4"],["1812","12"],["1813","7"],["1814","5"],["1815","17"],["1816","14"],["1817","11"],["1818","12"],["1819","29"],["1820","9"],["1821","10"],["1822","29"],["1823","5"],["1824","22"],["1825","23"],["1826","32"],["1827","25"],["1828","4"],["1829","20"],["1830","6"],["1831","18"],["1832","25"],["1833","9"],["1834","31"],["1835","11"],["1836","8"],["1837","5"],["1838","16"],["1839","19"],["1840","5"],["1841","10"],["1842","19"],["1843","10"],["1844","7"],["1845","17"],["1846","18"],["1847","10"],["1848","8"],["1849","13"],["1850","18"],["1851","15"],["1852","28"],["1853","11"],["1854","12"],["1855","62"],["1856","16"],["1857","25"],["1858","22"],["1859","15"],["1860","14"],["1861","15"],["1862","6"],["1863","24"],["1864","15"],["1865","13"],["1866","8"],["1867","10"],["1868","16"],["1869","25"],["1870","12"],["1871","23"],["1872","6"],["1873","14"],["1874","24"],["1875","18"],["1876","16"],["1877","13"],["1878","28"],["1879","23"],["1880","23"],["1881","17"],["1882","19"],["1883","28"],["1884","17"],["1885","12"],["1886","8"],["1887","20"],["1888","12"],["1889","15"],["1890","15"],["1891","14"],["1892","27"],["1893","62"],["1894","24"],["1895","52"],["1896","38"],["1897","33"],["1898","40"],["1899","23"],["1900","34"],["1901","62"],["1902","57"],["1903","56"],["1904","50"],["1905","25"],["1906","60"],["1907","39"],["1908","16"],["1909","14"],["1910","18"],["1911","121"],["1912","38"],["1913","37"],["1914","26"],["1915","3"],["1916","1"],["1917","12"],["1918","9"],["1919","21"],["1920","36"],["1921","20"],["1922","23"],["1923","85"],["1924","18"],["1925","10"],["1926","19"],["1927","510"],["1928","24"],["1929","70"],["1930","48"],["1931","21"],["1932","50"],["1933","60"],["1934","20"],["1935","54"],["1936","20"],["1937","26"],["1938","18"],["1939","26"],["1940","92"],["1941","13"],["1942","6"],["1943","40"],["1944","5"],["1945","27"],["1946","17"],["1947","16"],["1948","21"],["1949","82"],["1950","20"],["1951","48"],["1952","114"],["1953","57"],["1954","36"],["1955","44"],["1956","81"],["1957","45"],["1958","67"],["1959","256"],["1960","37"],["1961","82"],["1962","136"],["1963","62"],["1964","127"],["1965","85"],["1966","85"],["1967","120"],["1968","71"],["1969","161"],["1970","210"],["1971","172"],["1972","86"],["1973","176"],["1974","87"],["1975","160"],["1976","121"],["1977","100"],["1978","99"],["1979","144"],["1980","76"],["1981","110"],["1982","145"],["1983","134"],["1984","132"],["1985","229"],["1986","164"],["1987","443"],["1988","155"],["1989","223"],["1990","238"],["1991","218"],["1992","217"],["1993","213"],["1994","193"],["1995","235"],["1996","222"],["1997","191"],["1998","296"],["1999","229"],["2000","264"],["2001","934"],["2002","313"],["2003","284"],["2004","437"],["2005","530"],["2006","414"],["2007","718"],["2008","553"]]
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of kenning in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of kenning in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for kenning
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for kenning »
Translation
Find a translation for the kenning definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"kenning." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/kenning>.
Discuss these kenning definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In