As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.
Used in a Sentence
kenning
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for kenning.
Editorial note
A kenning is also half a bushel, or two pecks.
Examples14
Definitions4
Parts of speech1
Quick take
As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of kenning gathered in one view.
A surname.
(Northern England) A dry measure equivalent to half a bushel; a container with that capacity.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for kenning.
noun
As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.
noun
A surname.
noun
(Northern England) A dry measure equivalent to half a bushel; a container with that capacity.
noun
(poetry) A metaphorical compound or phrase, used especially in Germanic poetry (Old English or Old Norse) whereby a simple thing is described in an allusive way.
Example sentences
A kenning is also half a bushel, or two pecks.
Aye, kenning is a well understood linguistic principle, hence why quake is sufficient in English.
There's actually no kenning tradition in Finnish, it's more of an Old Norse thing.
Even kenning locally on our dev boxen, it never failed on us.
First there was kerning, then there was keming, now there's kenning.
Then there's the 'kenning', two pecks, half a bushel.
Also, invariably people tune kenning in ‘handwritten’ fonts.
I am a psychologist so I was also out of my kenning.
HN user kenning summarized it this way (talking about Facebook specifically, but I believe the comment applies): I think cigarettes are a great comparison.
Though they are also a memory aide (for the poet and the audience), they are primarily part of the way the skill of a scop (bard/epic poet) was judged was by how cleverly he could choose the right kenning for the mood and meter of where in the poem he was.
Quote examples
At the beginning she defines a kenning as two nouns, but "poignant" isn't a noun, it's an adjective.
The epic Beowulf describes Hrothgar as a Danish king who would give generously of his treasure in order to recruit the strongest, fiercest warriors (hence the kenning "ring-giver").
A saxon kenning for poet is “story-weaver”, and that’s actually very apt.
It also cites Old English "here" which I recognize from Beowulf in the kenning heregrima "war-mask".
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use kenning in a sentence?
A kenning is also half a bushel, or two pecks.
What does kenning mean?
As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.
What part of speech is kenning?
kenning is commonly used as noun.