kenning
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun Sight; view; especially, a distant view at sea.
- noun Range or extent of vision, especially at sea; hence, a marine measure of about twenty miles.
- noun As little as one can recognize or discriminate; a small portion; a little.
- noun In Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and other old Teutonic poetry, a distinctive poetical name, usually periphrastic in form, used in addition to, or substituted for, the usual name of a thing or person.
Examples
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The kenning, a metaphorical compound-word or phrase, is a descriptive stand-in for a noun.
Carol Rumens, 'Poem of the week: A Trace of Wings by Edwin Morgan,' The Guardian, August 23, 2010
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'I wish there was a summat to eat up their drovers,' said another; 'a plain Englishman canna make bread within a kenning of them.'
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And it came to pass that the next day about evening we saw within a kenning before us, toward the north, as it were thick clouds, which did put us in some hope of land, knowing how that part of the South Sea was utterly unknown, and might have islands or continents that hitherto were not come to light.
Note
This word comes from the Old Norse 'kenna,' to know.
