keen

Pronunciation




Etymology 1
From, from , from , from.

Cognate with 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬,, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬. Related to 🇨🇬. More at,.

Adjective

 * 1)   Often with a prepositional phrase, or with  and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.
 * 2) * 2000, Jane Green, Bookends, London:, ISBN 978-0-14-027652-7 ; republished as Bookends: A Novel, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: , 2003, ISBN 978-0-7679-0781-1 , 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.
 * 1) Fierce, intense, vehement.
 * 2) Having a fine edge or point; sharp.
 * 3) Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
 * 4) Acrimonious, bitter, piercing.
 * 5) Of cold, wind, etc.: cutting, penetrating, piercing, sharp.
 * 6) * 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765),, The Traveller, or a Prospect of Society. A Poem. Inscribed to the Rev. Henry Goldsmith, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, ; 3rd edition, London: Printed for J. Newbury,Newbery [sic] in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1765,  , page 10:
 * Chearful at morn he wakes from ſhort repoſe, / Breaſts the keen air, and carolls as he goes;
 * 1)  Of prices, extremely low as to be competitive.
 * 2)  Marvelous.
 * 3)  Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
 * 1) Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
 * 2) Acrimonious, bitter, piercing.
 * 3) Of cold, wind, etc.: cutting, penetrating, piercing, sharp.
 * 4) * 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765),, The Traveller, or a Prospect of Society. A Poem. Inscribed to the Rev. Henry Goldsmith, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, ; 3rd edition, London: Printed for J. Newbury,Newbery [sic] in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1765,  , page 10:
 * Chearful at morn he wakes from ſhort repoſe, / Breaſts the keen air, and carolls as he goes;
 * 1)  Of prices, extremely low as to be competitive.
 * 2)  Marvelous.
 * 3)  Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
 * 1) * 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765),, The Traveller, or a Prospect of Society. A Poem. Inscribed to the Rev. Henry Goldsmith, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, ; 3rd edition, London: Printed for J. Newbury,Newbery [sic] in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1765,  , page 10:
 * Chearful at morn he wakes from ſhort repoſe, / Breaſts the keen air, and carolls as he goes;
 * 1)  Of prices, extremely low as to be competitive.
 * 2)  Marvelous.
 * 3)  Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
 * 1)  Marvelous.
 * 2)  Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
 * 1)  Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
 * 1)  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,, etc.

Synonyms

 * ,, ; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
 * ,, ; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
 * ,, ; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
 * ,, ; see also Thesaurus:intelligent

Translations

 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Catalan: entusiasta
 * Danish: ivrig
 * Estonian: innukas, ,
 * Galician:
 * Georgian: ცხოველი (ინტერესი)
 * German:, ,  ,
 * Icelandic: áhugasamur
 * Italian:, , , , , , , ,
 * Kyrgyz:, , ,
 * Macedonian: расположен
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: ivrig
 * Nynorsk: ivrig
 * Occitan:, entosiasta, estrambordat
 * Old English: cēne
 * Russian: ,
 * Scottish Gaelic: èasgaidh
 * Spanish:, ,
 * Turkish:, ,


 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Danish: heftig
 * Esperanto:
 * Estonian: äge
 * Georgian: ინტენსიური, ბასრი, მახვილი, ძლიერი
 * German:, , ,
 * Italian:
 * Old English: cēne
 * Russian:, ,
 * Spanish: ,
 * Turkish:, , ,


 * Afrikaans:
 * Dutch:
 * Estonian: terav
 * German:
 * Russian:
 * Scots: shairp
 * Scots: sherp
 * Ukrainian:


 * Dutch:
 * German:
 * Ukrainian: проникливий


 * Dutch:
 * German:, , , ,
 * Norwegian:


 * Bulgarian:
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto:
 * German:
 * Maori: pūkatokato, kōtaratara
 * Russian: ,
 * Spanish:
 * Ukrainian: пронизливий


 * Irish:

Verb

 * 1)  To make cold, to sharpen.

Etymology 2
From.

Noun

 * 1) A prolonged wail for a deceased person.

Verb

 * 1)   To utter a keen.
 * 2) * 20th century, Stuart Howard-Jones (1904–1974), “Hibernia”, in, comp., The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse, New York, N.Y.: , 1978, ISBN 978-0-19-211862-2 , 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.)
 * 1)  To utter with a loud wailing voice or wordless cry.
 * 2)  To mourn.
 * 1)  To mourn.
 * 1)  To mourn.

Etymology
From, from , from. Cognate with 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Determiner

 * 1)  no, not a, not any

Declension

 * The declension is equivalent to that of, which see. has additional plural forms, however, which are the same as the feminine forms (but dative plural usually ). Moreover,  cannot be used after other determiners.

Particle

 * 1) no, not any, not a

Etymology
From, from the merger of , "someone; anyone", from and 🇨🇬,  "not any", from 🇨🇬.

Particle

 * 1) no, not any, not a

Etymology
From. Compare 🇨🇬.

Pronoun

 * 1) you, thou second-person singular pronoun

Usage notes
Usually precedes a verb or noun, like but unlike.

Verb

 * 1) bring

Etymology
From, from.

Adjective

 * 1) sharp