know
/noʊ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 6.10 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To understand or have a grasp of through experience or study.
Example Sentences
- "Question things. I have the most fun when I'm writing questioning things that people do not question- the assumptions that everybody knows are true."
- "'[…] I know whether a boy is telling me the truth or not.' 'Thank you, sir.' Did he hell. They never bloody did."
- "I know that I’m right and you’re wrong."
- "He knew something terrible was going to happen."
- "Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew."
- "Malware's sometimes been known to sit dormant for a long time."
Etymology
From Middle English knowen, from Old English cnāwan (“to know, perceive, recognise”), from Proto-West Germanic *knāan, from Proto-Germanic *knēaną (“to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Cognates * from Proto-Germanic: Scots knaw (“to know, recognise”), Icelandic knega (“to know, know how to, be able”), Old High German knājan (“to know, recognise”), Old Norse kná (“to know how”). Remotely related also Dutch and German kennen, West Frisian kenne (see English ken). * from Indo-European: Latin gnoscō, Latin cognoscō (Spanish conocer, French connaître, Romanian cunoaște, Italian conoscere, Portuguese conhecer), Ancient Greek γνωρίζω (gnōrízō, “to know”) and γνῶσις (gnôsis, “knowledge”), Albanian njoh (“to know, recognise”), Russian знать (znatʹ, “to know”), Lithuanian žinoti (“to know”), Persian شناختن (šenâxtan, “to know”) and Hindi जानना (jānnā, “to know, understand”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /noʊ/
- British English: /nəʊ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
knows (present, singular)
knowing (participle, present)
knew (past)
knowed (nonstandard, past)
known (participle, past)
knew (colloquial, nonstandard)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
knew (first person, past)
knowest (archaic, present)
knew (past, second person)
knewest (archaic, past)