køn

See also: Appendix:Variations of "kon"

Danish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈkʰœnˀ]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse kyn (“kin”), from Proto-Germanic *kunją (“kin, descent”). Cognate with Swedish kön, Norwegian Bokmål kjønn, English kin, Latin genus and Ancient Greek γένος (génos).

Noun

køn n (singular definite kønnet, plural indefinite køn)

sex (the biological division in male and female individuals)
gender (the social identity of male, female or other)
(grammar) gender (division of nouns and adjectives etc. into classes)
private parts, genitals

Usage notes

If a gender/sex distinction is desired, it must be introduced explicitly, through modifiers such as psykologisk (“psychological”), biologisk (“biological”) or tildelt (“assigned”).

Declension

Declension of *køn*
neuter gender	singular		plural
neuter gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	køn	kønnet	køn	kønnene
genitive	køns	kønnets	køns	kønnenes

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse kœnn (“skilled, capable”), from Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“clever”). Cognate with English keen and German kühn (“daring”).

Adjective

køn (neuter kønt, plural and definite singular attributive kønne)

pretty
good-looking
(ironic) nice, fine
Det er da en køn situation du har rodet os ind i!
What a fine situation you have gotten us tangled into!
- 2016, Bo Green Jensen, En afgrund af frihed, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:
  De var et kønt par egoister.
  They were a fine pair of egoists.
- 2015, James Fenimore Cooper, Pionererne: eller Susquehannahs kilder, Klim →ISBN. Translated from English by Gerd Have.
  “Det var da en køn sammensværgelse!
  What a fine conspiracy!
- 2015, C. S. Lewis, Narnia 1 - Troldmandens nevø, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN. Translated from English by Niels Søndergaard.
  »Det var da en køn redelighed for dem, hvis de ikke kunne komme tilbage!«
  »That would be quite unfortunate for them, if they couldn't get back!«
- 2015, Carin Gerhardsen, Hendes iskolde øjne, Art People, →ISBN:
  “Du er da en køn mor. Ude at knalde rundt hele weekenden ...
  “Some mother you are. Out fucking all weekend ...

Inflection

Inflection of *køn*
	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	køn	kønnere	kønnest²
indefinite neuter singular	kønt	kønnere	kønnest²
plural	kønne	kønnere	kønnest²
definite attributive¹	kønne	kønnere	kønneste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

“køn” in Den Danske Ordbog
“køn” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog