one’s range of knowledge or understanding:politics are beyond my ken
verb (kens, kenning; past and past participle kenned or kent)
[with object]Scottish & Northern English
know:d’ye ken anyone who can boast of that?
recognize; identify:that’s him—d’ye ken him?
Origin:
Old Englishcennan 'tell, make known', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German kennen 'know, be acquainted with', from an Indo-European root shared by can1 and know. Current senses of the verb date from Middle English; the noun from the mid 16th century
