ken
4
9.3
- noun
- /kɛn/
- Literature
:
conocimiento
- Smith wrote in his version of the speech that these last ideas are beyond the ken of whites.
Examples
-
The highest of the high, though, are beyond my ken, and I had better say nothing about them.
Fiction book (2001) -
A decade ago, the possibility of an implosion of the Soviet Union was beyond the ken of most specialists.
Academic text (1997) -
Am I too removed from your ken?
-
"I said, 'Ah,' and made a mental note to quit asking about matters far beyond my ken."
Fiction book (2002) -
Like a lot of things that matter to me, this was beyond my ken.
Fiction book (1991) -
In other words, only cases that are formally charged fall within the ken of the judicial system.
Academic text (2001) -
Another response sometimes forthcoming from the faithful is that God is simply beyond our ken.
Academic text (1998) -
There are, for example, emotive aspects to our concept of rights that are beyond the ken of this theory.
Academic text (1999) -
Our lives come to be dominated by forces that elude our ken and that are beyond our control.
Academic text (1995) -
Many scientific discoveries remain beyond our ken, as they involve complex phenomena that are difficult to grasp.
Synonyms
82
3.7
The range of things a person knows or has experienced
24
6.3
The range of subjects a person knows about
3
8.6
Awareness that something exists or is happening
Antonyms
Compounds
- Literature
A nickname for Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London known for left-wing views
How Wide
302
4.9
871
1.1
- Literature
4
9.3
∞
1.0
38
2.9
336
3.2
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ken comes from an old northern English and Scots word that meant 'to know', the same idea as the common English word know. As a noun, ken grew to mean the 'range of sight or knowledge'—the area you can see or understand—so something outside your ken is beyond what you can know.