It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for April 28th.

Today's word is can, spelled K-E-N-K-E-N-K-E-N is a noun. It refers to someone's range of

perception, knowledge, or understanding, and is most often used in phrases like

beyond or outside or within one's can. Here's the word used

in a sentence from the London Free Press of Ontario. I'm still pretty much an amateur when it comes to gardening, creating showy

displays of florals along a pathway or verdant plots of perennials in shady

backyard nooks, well much of that is still beyond my can. I don't know my

spurges from my woodruffs. Need a word that can encompass all that one perceives

understands or knows? it's just can. Of course, whether

someone is a president, writer, physicist, diplomat, journalist, or even a

stereotypical Barbie, everyone has their own personal can.

When someone says something is beyond it,

they're not admitting to being a gosling,

only that the topic or question at hand is beyond their particular range of knowledge or expertise.

Ken appeared on the English horizon in the 16th century,

referring to the distance bounding the range of ordinary vision at sea about 20 miles,

and would thus have been familiar to skippers in particular.

Its meaning soon broadened, however, to mean range of vision or sight on land or sea.

Today, Ken rarely suggests literal sight, but rather the extent of what one can metaphorically

see, and that, as they say, is enough.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

Visit Marion Webster.com todaycom today for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups.

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