Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1715, 1794-1824, 1883-1952
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‡KINNEN, n. Also kinning; kunnin (Ork. 1929 Marw.) and Sh. forms kjun(n)in, -en, ki-, kj-, kyunnen, kyonin, kyoneen, kionnen (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 125, ‡Sh. 1960); können; cuning (Ork. 1891 Buckley & Harvie-Brown Fauna Ork. 88). A rabbit (Sc. 1808 Jam.). [Sc. ′kɪnən; Sh. ′kjɪ-, ′kjø-]Peb. 1715 A. Pennecuik Tweeddale 105:
Kinnings, capons, and sic toys.Sc. 1794 J. Ritson Sc. Songs (1869) II. 302:
Wheit-breid and wine, and a kinnen new slain.Slk. 1824 Hogg Shepherd's Cal. (1874) xii.:
The Snaw-fleck sits busy in the neuk, as sleek as a kinnen.Hdg. 1883 J. Martine Reminisc. 322:
A Morham weaver . . . had a "hobby" for keeping tame rabbits or "kinnings."Sh. 1888 B. R. Anderson Broken Lights 78:
An' never swöre by Guid or Deil Excep' whan kyunnens ate his kail.Hdg. 1902 J. Lumsden Toorle 112:
The squirrels an' the kinnens jinkin' out an' in!Sh. 1952 J. Hunter Taen wi da Trow 17:
Dey [trows] lived laek kjunnins under grund.
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"Kinnen n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/kinnen>
