# ken

> English word · Verb · IPA /kɛn/ · frequency rank #5,057

## Definitions
1. To give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).

## Etymology
From Middle English kennen (“to give birth, conceive, generate, beget; to develop (as a fetus), hatch out (of eggs); to sustain, nourish, nurture”), from Old English cennan (“to give birth, conceive, generate, beget”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną.

## Easily confused with
- **kI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-ki)
- **ky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-ky)
- **ko** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-ko)
- **Ku** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-ku)
- **KS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-ks)
- **KT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kt)
- **kk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kk)
- **KL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kl)
- **KP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kp)
- **KJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kj)
- **KF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kf)
- **key** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-key)
- **kid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kid)
- **Kim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kim)
- **kit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kit)
- **kin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kin)
- **KIA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kia)
- **KGB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kgb)
- **KFC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kfc)
- **kun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ken-vs-kun)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ken