Meanings
prepositional phrase
- Beyond one's knowledge or understanding.
Much of what McLuhan wrote and some of what Coupland relates are beyond my ken, but I don’t know about that “hole in heaven” stuff.
2011 January 6, David Carr, “Marshall McLuhan: Media Savant”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Origin
From ken (“knowledge, understanding”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
beyond one's ken. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beyond%20one's%20ken
MLA
“beyond one's ken.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beyond%20one's%20ken. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beyond one's ken,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beyond%20one's%20ken.
Source: beyond one's ken on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.