cennan

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈken.nɑn/

Etymology 1

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 chennan (German kennen), Old Norse kenna (Danish kende, spelling before the writing reform of 1948: kjende), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kannjan, “to declare”).

Verb

cennan

1. to make known, declare
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "On the Nativity of our Lord"

     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.

2. to produce, bring forth, declare

Conjugation

Conjugation of cennan (weak class 1)

infinitive	cennan	cennenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	cenne	cende
second person singular	cennest, censt	cendest
third person singular	cenneþ, cenþ	cende
plural	cennaþ	cendon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	cenne	cende
plural	cennen	cenden
imperative
singular	cenn
plural	cennaþ
participle	present	past
	cennende	(ġe)cenned

Derived terms

• ġecennan
• frumcenned

Descendants

• Middle English: kennen, kenin
  • English: ken
  • Scots: ken
  • Yola: ee-kent (ppl.)

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *kannjan, from Proto-Germanic *kanjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵonh₁éyeti, the causative formation of the root *ǵenh₁-.

Verb

cennan

1. to give birth to (a child), to deliver, to bear

Conjugation

Conjugation of cennan (weak class 1)

infinitive	cennan	cennenne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	cenne	cende
second person singular	cennest, censt	cendest
third person singular	cenneþ, cenþ	cende
plural	cennaþ	cendon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	cenne	cende
plural	cennen	cenden
imperative
singular	cenn
plural	cennaþ
participle	present	past
	cennende	(ġe)cenned

Derived terms

• ācennan (“to bring forth (a child)”)

Descendants

• Middle English: kennen

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “cennan”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.