kenning
ken·ning/ˈkɛnɪŋ/noun, verb
kenning is spelled K-E-N-N-I-N-G, 2 syllables: ken·ning. The wrong spelling people search most is kening: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 21 of all searches for the word. Kenning is a noun meaning “As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little”. The plural of kenning is kennings.
How many letters and syllables are in kenning?
| Letters | 7: K-E-N-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ken·ning |
| In writing | about once in every 26 million words; the 155,937th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, kening, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell kenning?
Kenning is spelled K-E-N-N-I-N-G. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 21 of the searches for kenning in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is kenning?
Kenning appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce kenning?
- US /ˈkɛnɪŋ/
Kenning has 2 syllables, split ken·ning in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-kenning.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of kenning
- kennings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kenning mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteSight, view; specifically a distant view at sea.
- 2
obsoleteThe range or extent of vision, especially at sea; (by extension) a marine measure of approximately twenty miles.
- 3
As little as one can discriminate or recognize; a small portion, a little.
put in a kenning of salt
- 4
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.
- 5
A dry measure equivalent to half a bushel; a container with that capacity.
- 6
obsoleterareA chalaza or tread of an egg (a spiral band attaching the yolk of the egg to the eggshell); a cicatricula.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of ken.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Kenning in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense metaphorical phrase used in Germanic poetry:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Kenning |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does kenning come from?
From Middle English kenning, kening (“instruction, teaching; experience, knowledge; sight, view”), from kennen (“to make known, point out, reveal; to direct, instruct, teach; to know, perceive”) + -ing. Kennen is derived from Old English cennan (“to make known, declare”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną (“to make known”), the causative form of *kunnaną (“to know, be familiar with, recognize; to be able to, know how”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Compare Danish kending (“acquaintance”), and see further at ken. By surface analysis, ken + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).