Old English · verb
cennan
- Part of speech
- verb
- Verb class
- weak class 1
- IPA
- /ˈken.nɑn/
- Syllables
- ˈken · nɑn (2 syllables)
- Modern English
- kendeclaredeliver
cennan1 · verb
Senses
-
to make known, declare
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.
c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Nativity of our Lord" -
to produce, bring forth, declare
Conjugation
cennan2 · verb
Senses
-
to give birth to (a child), to deliver, to bear
Conjugation
All forms (17)
Etymology
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 kennen (German kennen), Old Norse kenna (Danish kende, spelling before the writing reform of 1948: kjende), Gothic (kannjan, “to declare”).
From Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵonh₁éyeti, the causative formation of the root *ǵenh₁-.
Descendants
ken
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cennan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution