different between cool vs keen

English

Alternative forms

• (slang) c00l, coo, k00l, kewl, kool, qewl, qool

Pronunciation

• enPR: ko?ol, IPA^(key): /ku?l/
• Rhymes: -u?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English cool, from Old English c?l (“cool, cold, tranquil, calm”), from Proto-West Germanic *k?l(?), from Proto-Germanic *k?laz, *k?luz (“cool”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian köil (“cool”), West Frisian koel (“cool”), Dutch koel (“cool”), Limburgish kool (“cool”), German Low German köhl (“cool”), German kühl (“cool”). Related to cold.

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolest)

2. Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.

   Synonym: chilly

   Antonyms: lukewarm, tepid, warm
3. Allowing or suggesting heat relief.
4. Of a color, in the range of violet to green.

   Antonym: warm

5. Of a person, not showing emotion; calm and in control of oneself.

   Synonyms: distant, phlegmatic, standoffish, unemotional

   Antonym: passionate

6. Unenthusiastic, lukewarm, skeptical.

   Antonym: warm

7. Calmly audacious.
8. Applied facetiously to a sum of money, commonly as if to give emphasis to the largeness of the amount.

   • Who will lend me a cool hundred.

   • 1900, Dora Sigerson Shorter, Transmigration

     You remember Bulger, don't you? You lost a cool hundred to him one night here over the cards, eh?

   • 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

     My father was talking to the World's Fair Commission yesterday, and they estimate it's going to cost a cool fifty million.

9. (informal) Of a person, knowing what to do and how to behave; considered popular by others.

   Antonyms: awkward, uncool
10. (informal) In fashion, part of or fitting the in crowd; originally hipster slang.

    Synonyms: à la mode, fashionable, in fashion, modish, stylish, happening, hip, in, trendy

    Antonyms: démodé, old hat, out, out of fashion

    • 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii

      The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

11. (informal) Of an action, all right; acceptable; that does not present a problem.

    Synonyms: acceptable, all right, OK

    Antonyms: (UK) not cricket, not on, unacceptable

12. (informal) Of a person, not upset by circumstances that might ordinarily be upsetting.

    Synonyms: easy, fine, not bothered, not fussed

    Antonyms: bothered, upset

13. Quietly impudent, defiant, or selfish; deliberately presuming: said of persons and acts.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Chinese: ?
• ? Dutch: cool
• ? French: cool
• ? German: cool
• ? Polish: cool
• ? Spanish: cool
• ? Swedish: cool

Translations

Noun

cool (uncountable)

1. A moderate or refreshing state of cold; moderate temperature of the air between hot and cold; coolness.

   in the cool of the morning

2. A calm temperament.

   Synonyms: calmness, composure

3. The property of being cool, popular or in fashion.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English colen, from Old English c?lian (“to cool, grow cold, be cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *k?l?n (“to become cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to freeze”). Cognate with Dutch koelen (“to cool”), German kühlen (“to cool”), Swedish kyla (“to cool, refrigerate”). Also partially from Middle English kelen, from Old English c?lan (“to cool, be cold, become cold”), from Proto-Germanic *k?lijan? (“to cool”), altered to resemble the adjective cool. See keel.

Verb

cool (third-person singular simple present cools, present participle cooling, simple past and past participle cooled)

1. (intransitive, literally) To lose heat, to get colder.

   I like to let my tea cool before drinking it so I don't burn my tongue.

2. (transitive) To make cooler, less warm.
3. (figuratively, intransitive) To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.

   Relations cooled between the USA and the USSR after 1980.

4. (transitive) To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.
5. (transitive) To kill.
   • 1965, "Sex Jungle" (narrated in Perversion for Profit)

     Maybe he would die. That would mean I had murdered him. I smiled, trying the idea on for size. One of the things that always had cheesed me a little was that I had no kills to my credit. I'd been in plenty of rumbles, but somehow, I'd never cooled anyone. Well maybe now I had my first one. I couldn't feel very proud of skulling an old man, but at least I could say that I'd scored. That was a big kick.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• cool in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• cool at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Colo, Colo., colo, colo-, loco

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool. Doublet of koel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku(?)l/
• Hyphenation: cool
• Rhymes: -ul
• Homophone: koel

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolst)

1. cool, fashionable

Inflection

French

Etymology

From English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kul/
• Homophones: coule, coules, coulent

Adjective

cool (invariable)

1. cool (only its informal senses, mainly fashionable)

   Les jeunes sont cool.

   Young people are cool.

   Les jeunes boivent de l'alcool pour être cool.

   Young people drink alcohol to be cool.

Interjection

cool

1. cool! great!

Anagrams

• looc

German

Etymology

From English cool, from Proto-Germanic *k?laz. Doublet of kühl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ku?l]

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative am coolsten)

1. (colloquial) cool (in its informal senses)

   Synonyms: brilliant, genial, geil
2. (colloquial) cool, calm, easy-going

   Synonyms: lässig, ruhig

Declension

Further reading

• “cool” in Duden online

Polish

Etymology

From English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kul/

Adjective

cool (not comparable)

1. (slang) cool (in its informal senses)

   Synonyms: ?wietny, wspania?y, znakomity

Declension

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• cool in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• cool in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kul/, [?kul]

Adjective

cool (plural cools or cool)

1. cool (in its informal sense)

Anagrams

• loco

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku?l/

Adjective

cool (comparative coolare, superlative coolast)

1. cool! great!

Declension

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ki?n/
• (General American) enPR: k?n, IPA^(key): /kin/
• Rhymes: -i?n
• Homophones: Keane, Keene

Etymology 1

From Middle English kene (“bold, brave, sharp”), from Old English c?ne (“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise”), from Proto-Germanic *k?niz (“knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable”), from Proto-Indo-European *?neh?- (“to know”). Cognate with Danish køn (“handsome, pretty”), Dutch kien (“smart, wise, able”), koen (“daring, valiant, doughty, courageous”), German kühn (“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”), Icelandic kænn (“wise, crafty, clever, able”), Scots keen (“lively, brisk; avaricious”). Related to Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). More at cunning, can.

Alternative forms

• keene, kene (both obsolete)

Adjective

keen (comparative keener or more keen, superlative keenest or most keen)

1. (chiefly Commonwealth of Nations) Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.
   • 2000, Jane Green, Bookends, London: Penguin Books, ?ISBN; republished as Bookends: A Novel, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, 2003, ?ISBN, page 304:

     In fact, she doesn't mention the fact that I've obviously been avoiding her, just sounds genuinely thrilled to hear from me, and as soon as I mention getting together she suggests Monday, which is rather keen, even for Portia.

2. Fierce, intense, vehement.
3. Having a fine edge or point; sharp.
4. Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
5. Acrimonious, bitter, piercing.
6. Of cold, wind, etc.: cutting, penetrating, piercing, sharp.
   • 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or a Prospect of Society. A Poem. Inscribed to the Rev. Henry Goldsmith, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, ?OCLC; 3rd edition, London: Printed for J. Newbury,^{[sic, meaning Newbery]} in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1765, ?OCLC, page 10:

     Chearful at morn he wakes from ?hort repo?e, / Brea?ts the keen air, and carolls as he goes; […]

7. (Britain) Of prices, extremely low as to be competitive.
8. (US, informal, dated) Marvelous.
9. (obsolete) Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.

Usage notes

Keen is often used to create compounds, the meaning of most of them being fairly obvious, for example, keen-edged, keen-eyed, keen-sighted, keen-witted, etc.

Synonyms

• (showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness): ardent, eager, prompt
• (having a fine edge or point): sharp
• (acrimonious): biting, cutting, piercing
• (acute of mind): acute, penetrating, shrewd; see also Thesaurus:intelligent

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

keen (third-person singular simple present keens, present participle keening, simple past and past participle keened)

1. (transitive, rare) To make cold, to sharpen.
   • 1730, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, A Hymn, A Poem to the Memory of Sir Isaac Newton, and Britannia, a Poem, London, Printed for J. Millan, near Whitehall; and A[ndrew] Millar, in the Strand, ?OCLC; republished in The Works of James Thomson. With His Last Corrections and Improvements. In Four Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand, 1766, ?OCLC, page 93, lines 1256–1259:

     This is the pure?t exerci?e of health, / The kind refre?her of the ?ummer-heats; / Nor, when cold Winter keens the brightening flood, / Would I weak-?hivering linger on the brink.

Etymology 2

From Irish caoin (“to cry, weep; to keen”).

Noun

keen (plural keens)

1. A prolonged wail for a deceased person.

Verb

keen (third-person singular simple present keens, present participle keening, simple past and past participle keened)

1. (intransitive) To utter a keen.
   • 20th century, Stuart Howard-Jones (1904–1974), “Hibernia”, in Kingsley Amis, comp., The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1978, ?ISBN, page 243:

     Last night he had put down too much Potheen / (A vulgar blend of Methyl and Benzene) / That, at some Wake, he might the better keen. / (Keen—meaning 'brisk'? Nay, here the Language warps: / 'Tis singing bawdy Ballads to a Corpse.)

2. (transitive) To utter with a loud wailing voice or wordless cry.
3. (transitive) To mourn.

Related terms

• keener

References

Anagrams

• Enke, kene, knee, kène, neek

Basque

Noun

keen

1. genitive plural of ke

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?e?n/

Particle

keen

1. no, not any, not a

Declension

¹Form used when the plural of the noun is the same as the singular

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Luxembourgish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke?n/
  • Rhymes: -e?n

Particle

keen m or n

1. no, not any, not a

Declension

Somali

Verb

keen

1. bring

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English kene, from Old English c?ne.

Adjective

keen

1. sharp

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN