kenning

[ ken-ing ]
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noun
  1. a conventional poetic phrase used for or in addition to the usual name of a person or thing, especially in Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon verse, as “a wave traveler” for “a boat.”

Origin of kenning

1
First recorded in 1880–85; from Old Norse: literally “teaching, doctrine, poetic periphrasis”; see origin at ken, -ing1

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British Dictionary definitions for kenning

kenning

/ (ˈkɛnɪŋ) /


noun
  1. a conventional metaphoric name for something, esp in Old Norse and Old English poetry, such as Old English bānhūs (bone house) for "body"

Origin of kenning

1
C14: from Old Norse, from kenna; see ken

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012