kemben

Middle English

Alternative forms

• kemmen, kemen, kemyn, keembe

Etymology

From Old English cemban, 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, lines 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 (irregular weak)

infinitive	(to) kemben
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	kembe	kembed, kempt, kembd
2nd person singular	kembest	*kembedest, *kemptest
3rd person singular	kembeþ, kembeth	kembed, kempt, kembd
plural	kemben	*kembede(n), *kempt(en), *kembd(en)
subjunctive	present	past
singular	kembe	*kempte, *kembde
plural	kemben	*kembede(n), *kempt(en), *kembd(en)
imperative	present
singular	kembe
plural	kembeþ, kembeth
participle	present	past
	kembende, kembinge	(y)kembed, (y)kempt, (y)kembd

Derived terms

• kembestere
• kembynge

Descendants

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

References

• “kẹ̄̆mben (v.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-31.