ken russell | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

53 entries found.

"house used as a meeting place by thieves or other disreputable characters," 1560s, vagabonds' slang, probably a shortening of kennel (n.).

ken (v.)

"to know, understand, take cognizance of," a word surviving mainly in Scottish and northern England dialect, from Middle English kennen, "make known; give instruction to; be aware, know, have knowledge of, know how to; recognize by sight; see, catch sight of," a very common verb, from Old English cennan "make known, declare, acknowledge" (in late Old English also "to know"), originally "cause to know, make to know," causative of cunnan "to become acquainted with, to know" (see can (v.)). Cognate with German kennen, Danish kjende, Swedish känna. Related: Kenned; kenning.

ken (n.1)

1550s, "cognizance, intellectual view;" 1580s in a physical sense, "range of sight;" from ken (v.), in the second sense perhaps via kenning (n.2) in the same sense in nautical use; both from PIE root *gno- "to know."

Russell

masc. proper name, from Old French rousel, diminutive of rous "red," used as a personal name. See russet. Also a name for a fox, in allusion to its color. Compare French rousseau, which, like it, has become a surname. Russell's Paradox, "the set of all sets that do not contain themselves as elements," is named for Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) who is said to have framed it about 1901.

Jack Russell

type of terrier (not recognized as a distinct breed), 1907, named for the Rev. John Russell (1795-1883) of Devonshire, "the sporting parson."

keno-

before vowels, ken-, word-forming element meaning "empty," from Greek kenos "empty," from PIE *ken- "empty."

kenning (n.2)

early 14c., "sign, token; teaching, instruction;" c. 1400, "range of vision," also "mental cognition;" late 15c., "sight, view;" verbal nouns from ken (v.).

conation (n.)

in the philosophical sense of "voluntary agency" (embracing desire and volition), 1836, from Latin conationem (nominative conatio) "an endeavoring, effort," noun of action from past participle stem of conari "to endeavor, to try," from PIE *kona-, from root *ken- "to hasten, set oneself in motion" (see deacon).

stall (v.2)

1590s, "distract a victim and thus screen a pickpocket from observation," from stall (n.2) "decoy." Meaning "to prevaricate, be evasive, play for time" is attested from 1903. Related: Stalled; stalling. Compare old slang stalling ken "house for receiving stolen goods" (1560s).

S.O.L.

initialism (acronym) from shit out of luck (though sometimes euphemised), 1917, World War I military slang. "Applicable to everything from death to being late for mess" [Russell Lord, "Captain Boyd's Battery, A.E.F.," c. 1920]

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