English

Noun

kenning ‎(plural kennings)

1. (obsolete) Sight; view; a distant view at sea.
2. (obsolete) Range or extent of vision, especially at sea; (by extension) a marine measure of approximately twenty miles.
3. As little as one can recognise or discriminate; a small portion; a little.

   put in a kenning of salt

Verb

kenning

1. present participle of ken

Etymology 2

From ken ‎(“to beget, bring forth”).

Noun

kenning ‎(plural kennings)

1. The tread of an egg; cicatricula.

Etymology 3

From Old Norse, from kenna ‎(“know, perceive”), from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, causative of *kunnaną ‎(“to know how”). Compare can, ken, keen.

Noun

kenning ‎(plural kennings)

1. A metaphorical phrase used in Germanic poetry (especially Old English or Old Norse) whereby a simple thing is described in an allusive way, such as ‘whale road’ for ‘sea’, or ‘enemy of the mast’ for ‘wind’.

Translations

Icelandic

Noun

kenning f ‎(genitive singular kenningar, nominative plural kenningar)

1. a theory
2. a religious doctrine, teaching
3. a lesson
4. (poetry) a kenning; (a circumlocution used instead of an ordinary noun in Old Norse, Old English and later Icelandic poetry)

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• láta sér að kenningu verða (to let something be a lesson to oneself)