Meanings
- Northern EnglandUKdialectalobsoleteMarked and easily recognized; kenspeck.
Ewes can be souted (diseased), sheep can be kessen (on their backs and unable to rise), and various animals kenspecked (branded, marked).
1979, Peter Wright, Cumbrian Dialect, Dalesman Books, page 112 more examples
Yynge Heraudyn al bie the grene Wode sate, / Hereynge the swote Chelandrie ande the Oue, / Seeinge the kenspecked amaylde flourettes nete, / Envyngynge to the Birds hys Love songe true.
1803, Thomas Chatterton, “Heraudyn”, in The Works of Thomas Chatterton […], volume II, London: Biggs and Cottle, page 135A piece of money is sworn to after a robbery,—it has a hole in it;—a sheep upon a similar circumstance is identified,—it is peculiarly coloured;—and probably the thief himself, from a peculiar physiognomy, is pointed out,—as kenspecked.
1841, Richard Winter Hamilton, “On the Yorkshire Dialect”, in Nugæ Literariæ: Prose and Verse, London; Leeds: Hamilton, Adams & Co.; Smith, Elder & Co.; Jackson & Walford; J. Y. Knights; John Cross, page 336
Origin
From ken + specked, or kenspeck + -ed.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
kenspecked. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kenspecked
“kenspecked.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kenspecked. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kenspecked,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kenspecked.
Source: kenspecked on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.