sken

English

Etymology

Obscure origin, possibly related to askance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skɛn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn

Verb

sken (third-person singular simple present skens, present participle skenning, simple past and past participle skenned)

1. (Northern English) to squint
   • 1861, Edwin Waugh, The Birtle Carter's Tale About Owd Bodle:

     He skens ill enough to crack a lookin'-glass.

   • 1989, Marie Joseph, A World Apart, page 344:

     She's about seventy and skens like a basket of whelks, but she's as good as any doctor.

2. (Northern English) to glance

Anagrams

• kens, neks, snek

Old Saxon

Verb

skēn

1. first/third-person past indicative of skinan

Swedish

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Swedish sken, skin, from Proto-Germanic *skīnaną. Cognate of German Schein, English shine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɧeːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

sken n

1. a light, a glow

   månens matta sken

   the dim light of the moon

2. an appearance; guise

   försöka ge sken av något

   try to give the impression of something

   skenet bedrar

   appearances are deceptive

Declension

Declension of sken

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	sken	skens
	definite	skenet	skenets
plural	indefinite	sken	skens
	definite	skenen	skenens

Derived terms

• fosforsken
• månsken
• norrsken
• skenavrättning
• skenavtal
• skenbar
• skenbild
• skendöd
• skenfrukt
• skenfäktning
• skengraviditet
• skenhelig
• skenhändelse
• skenmanöver
• skenvärld
• skenäktenskap
• solsken
• ögonskenlig

 

Related terms

• skina

Etymology 2

Deverbal from skena.

Noun

sken n

1. bolting

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sken

1. past indicative of skina

References

• sken in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Further reading

• sken in Svensk ordbok.
• sken in Reverso Context (Swedish-English)