What does kenneled mean?
Kenneled is the past tense and past participle of kennel, a verb principally meaning to keep an animal in a kennel or similar shelter. Its literal use is especially common for dogs awaiting adoption, veterinary care, training, or transport. Kenneled can also have a figurative meaning: something or someone is kept in an obscure, confined, or unsatisfactory place. This figurative use often implies that the subject has been neglected or deliberately put out of sight. In American English, kenneled is normally written with one l, while British English commonly uses kennelled. The word is especially associated with the management and temporary housing of dogs, but it is not restricted to them.
To confine or accommodate an animal in a kennel.
"The shelter kenneled the dogs overnight while the kennels were cleaned."
Often used with dogs and other animals; the British spelling is kennelled.
To keep or shut away in an unsatisfactory or obscure place.
"Important documents were kenneled in a poorly organized storage room."
Figurative and generally disparaging or disapproving.
Kenneling a dog is ordinary care; kenneling a person is an unflattering way of suggesting they have been put out of sight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does kenneled come from?
The word kennel ultimately derives from Old English cynell, meaning a dog's shelter or kennel, which was borrowed from Latin canis, meaning dog. The verb developed from the noun's older sense of a shelter for dogs and later acquired the meaning of placing or confining an animal in such a shelter. Many English words associated with dogs descend from the same Latin root, including canine and canary.
Related word forms
How kenneled is actually used
The literal sense is most common with dogs or other animals. The figurative sense carries a distinctly negative connotation, suggesting confinement, neglect, or deliberate concealment. British usage normally spells the form kennelled.
Easily confused with kenneled
Kenneled refers to animals being confined or housed in kennels, whereas a kernel is the seed or inner part of a nut, grain, or fruit.