Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word keen. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in keen.
Definitions and meaning of keen
keen
Pronunciation
(Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kiːn/
(General American) enPR: kēn, IPA(key): /kin/
Rhymes: -iːn
Homophones: Keane, Keene
Etymology 1
From Middle Englishkene(“bold, brave, sharp”), from Old Englishcēne(“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise”), from Proto-Germanic*kōniz(“knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable”), from Proto-Indo-European*ǵneh₃-(“to know”).
Cognate with Danishkøn(“handsome, pretty”), Dutchkien(“smart, wise, able”), koen(“daring, valiant, doughty, courageous”), Germankühn(“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”), Icelandickænn(“wise, crafty, clever, able”), Faroesekønur(“expert (in, on), experienced, skilful, able, capable”), Scotskeen(“lively, brisk; avaricious”). Related to Old Englishcunnan(“to know how to, be able to”). More at cunning, can.
(chiefly Commonwealth) Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.
I’m keen on you. ― I like you.
2000, Jane Green, Bookends, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN; republished as Bookends: A Novel, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, 2003, →ISBN, page 304:
In fact, she doesn't mention the fact that I've obviously been avoiding her, just sounds genuinely thrilled to hear from me, and as soon as I mention getting together she suggests Monday, which is rather keen, even for Portia.
Fierce, intense, vehement.
Having a fine edge or point; sharp.
Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
Acrimonious, bitter, piercing.
Of cold, wind, etc.: cutting, penetrating, piercing, sharp.
1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or a Prospect of Society. A Poem. Inscribed to the Rev. Henry Goldsmith, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, →OCLC; 3rd edition, London: Printed for J. Newbury,[sic – meaning Newbery] in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1765, →OCLC, page 10:
Chearful at morn he wakes from ſhort repoſe, / Breaſts the keen air, and carolls as he goes; […]
(British) Of prices, extremely low as to be competitive.
(US, informal, dated) Marvelous.
(obsolete) Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
Usage notes
Keen is often used to create compounds, the meaning of most of them being fairly obvious, for example, keen-edged, keen-eyed, keen-sighted, keen-witted, etc.
Synonyms
(showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness):ardent, eager, prompt
(having a fine edge or point):sharp
(acrimonious):biting, cutting, piercing
(acute of mind):acute, penetrating, shrewd; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
keen (third-person singular simple presentkeens, present participlekeening, simple past and past participlekeened)
(transitive, rare) To make cold, to sharpen.
Etymology 2
From Irishcaoin(“to cry, weep; to keen”).
Noun
keen (pluralkeens)
A prolonged wail for a deceased person.
Verb
keen (third-person singular simple presentkeens, present participlekeening, simple past and past participlekeened)
(intransitive) To utter a keen.
20th century, Stuart Howard-Jones (1904–1974), “Hibernia”, in Kingsley Amis, comp., The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1978, →ISBN, page 243:
Last night he had put down too much Potheen / (A vulgar blend of Methyl and Benzene) / That, at some Wake, he might the better keen. / (Keen—meaning 'brisk'? Nay, here the Language warps: / 'Tis singing bawdy Ballads to a Corpse.)
(transitive) To utter with a loud wailing voice or wordless cry.
(transitive) To mourn.
Related terms
keener
References
Anagrams
Enke, kene, knee, kène, neek
Basque
Noun
keen
genitive plural of ke
Central Franconian
Alternative forms
jeen(Ripuarian)
kein(Kölsch; Westerwald)
kään(eastern Moselle Franconian)
Etymology
From Middle High German(en) kein, from nechein, from Old High Germannehhein. Cognate with Germankein, Dutchgeen.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /keːn/
Determiner
keen
(most of Ripuarian, western Moselle Franconian) no, not a, not any
Declension
The declension is equivalent to that of een(“one”), which see. Keen has additional plural forms, however, which are the same as the feminine forms (but dative plural usually keene). Moreover, keen cannot be used after other determiners.
Hunsrik
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /kʰeːn/
Particle
keen
no, not any, not a
Declension
1Form used when the plural of the noun is the same as the singular
Further reading
Online Hunsrik Dictionary
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From Middle High Germankein, from the merger of dechein, dehein("someone; anyone", from Old High Germandehein) and Middle High Germannechein, nehein("not any", from Old High Germannihein).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /keːn/
Rhymes: -eːn
Particle
keenm or n
no, not any, not a
Declension
Narragansett
Etymology
From Proto-Algonquian*kiᐧlawa. Compare Ojibwegiin.
Pronoun
keèn
you, thou (second-person singular pronoun)
Usage notes
Usually precedes a verb or noun, like neèn but unlike ewò.
References
Further reading
Roger Williams (1643) A Key into the Language of America, London: Gregory Dexter, →OCLC, page 2
Somali
Verb
keen
bring
Yola
Alternative forms
keéne
Etymology
From Middle Englishkene, from Old Englishcēne.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /kiːn/
Homophones: keeine, kinge
Adjective
keen
sharp
References
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 49