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Cairn vs Ken - What's the difference?

cairn | ken |

As a noun cairn

is a rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the british isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.

As a symbol ken is

the iso 3166-1 three-letter (alpha-3) code for kenya.

cairn

English

(wikipedia cairn)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument.
    • Now here let us place the gray stone of her cairn . -Campbell.
  • A pile of stones heaped up as a landmark, to guide travelers on land or at sea, or to arrest attention, as in surveying, or in leaving traces of an exploring party, etc.
  • A cairn terrier.

    • Derived terms

    * cairned * cairn terrier

    Synonyms

    * burial mound

    References

    *

    ken

    English

    Etymology 1

    Northern and Scottish dialects from (etyl) . The noun meaning “range of sight” is a nautical abbreviation of present participle kenning.

    Noun

    (-)
  • Knowledge or perception.
  • Range of sight.
    • Usage notes
    In common usage a (fossil word), found only in the phrase .
    Coordinate terms
    * (nautical range of sight) (l)
    Quotations
    * (English Citations of "ken")

    Verb

  • To know, perceive or understand.
  • To discover by sight; to catch sight of; to descry.
  • * 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
    • I proposed to the Mariners, that it would be of great benefit in Navigation to make use of [the telescope] upon the round-top of a ship, to discover and kenne Vessels afar off.
  • * Addison
    • We ken them from afar.''
  • * Shakespeare
    • 'Tis he. I ken the manner of his gait.
    Quotations
    * (English Citations of "ken")
    Derived terms
    * beken * foreken * kenned * kenning * misken * underken * unkenned
    References
    * * * * *

    Etymology 2

    Perhaps from kennel.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang, UK, obsolete) A house, especially a den of thieves.
    • English irregular verbs ----