Wordwyrt

keenly

/ˈkinli/KEEN-lee
/ˈkinli/KEEN-lee

Meaningin a keen way

Common meaning: eagerly

Other meanings: sharply

Journey through time

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gan-‘know’source
  2. Old Englishcēne‘bold or skilful’sourceB&T
  3. Middle Englishkene‘sharp or eager’source
  4. Englishkeen‘eager, sharp or perceptive’
  5. Englishformed in English from keenkeenly‘eagerly’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from keen + -ly.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), KEEN, p.313 · scan

Source words

  • cēne Old English · source word “bold or skilful”

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