kemben

English

Noun

kemben (plural kembens)

  1. A torso wrap historically worn by women in Indonesia.

Middle English
FWOTD – 22 March 2020

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English cemban, from Proto-West Germanic *kambijan, from Proto-Germanic *kambijaną.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛmbən/, /ˈkeːmbən/, /ˈkɛmən/

Noun

kemben

  1. To comb or brush one's hair; to use a comb.
    • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Knight's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, line 3690-3691:
      But first he cheweth greyn and lycorys / To smellen sweete, er he hadde kembd his heer.
      Though first he chews spices and licorice, / To smell sweet before he'd combed his hair.
  2. (rare) To prettify or nicen.
  3. (rare) To untangle fibres; to card.

Conjugation
Conjugation of kemben (weak in -ed/-te)
infinitive (to) kemben, kembe
present tense past tense
1st-person singular kembe kembed, kempte
2nd-person singular kembest kembedest, kemptest
3rd-person singular kembeth kembed, kempte
subjunctive singular kembe
imperative singular —
plural1 kemben, kembe kembeden, kembede, kempten, kempte
imperative plural kembeth, kembe —
participles kembynge, kembende kembed, kempt, ykembed, ykempt

1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • English: kemb (obsolete except for kempt, unkempt), comb (remodelled on the noun)
  • Scots: kem, keme
  • Yola: khimed (preterite)

References
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