know

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

know pt. knew, pp. known perceive, recognize, distinguish XI; be acquainted or familiar with; be aware of or conversant with, apprehend as fact or truth XII. Late OE. (rare) str. vb. cnāwan, earlier ġecnāwan, corr. to OHG. -cnāen, ON. pres. ind. sg. kná. In the earliest OE. and in OHG. this vb. appears only in comps.; it is absent from LG. and Du. areas and from Gothic; in ON. it had lost the pres. inf. and meant ‘can’, (as an aux.) ‘do’, and in OHG. it had lost the orig. str. pt. and pp. An orig. redupl. vb. based on IE. *ĝn- *ĝnē- *ĝnō-, repr. also by CAN2, KEN, and L. nōscere, cognōscere, Gr. gignṓskein, OSl. znati, Skr. jānáti know.

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T. F. HOAD. "know." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "know." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-know.html

T. F. HOAD. "know." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-know.html

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