Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗To cut with a knife. · To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon. · To cut through as if with a knife. · To betray, especially in the context of a political slate.
From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr or Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”), from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel. * The verb is first attested in 1865. The variant knive is first attested in 1733. Cognates Cognate with Yola kunnife (“knife”), North Frisian knif (“knife”), Dutch knijf (“long pointy knife, poniard”), German Knifte (“rifle; thick slicebread”), German Low German Knief (“knife”), Luxembourgish Knäip (“paring knife”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk kniv (“knife”), Faroese knívur (“knife”), Icelandic hnífur, knífur (“knife”), Swedish knif, kniv (“knife”).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionknyfenm
- Inherited-form mentioncnīfang
- Derivation mentionknífrnon
- Derivation mention*knībgmw-pro
- Derivation mention*knībazgem-pro
- Derivation mention*gneybʰ-ine-pro
- Cognate mentiongnýbtilt
- Non-cognate comparisonsaxenm · knife
- Non-cognate comparisonseaxang
- Non-cognate comparisoncoutelenm
- Non-cognate comparisoncoutelfro
- Cognate mentionkunnifeyol · knife
- Cognate mentionkniffrr · knife
- Cognate mentionknijfnl · long pointy knife, poniard
- Cognate mentionKniftede · rifle; thick slicebread
- Cognate mentionKnäiplb · paring knife
- Cognate mentionknívurfo · knife
- Cognate mentionhnífuris
- Cognate mentionknifsv
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "knyf"
},
"expansion": "Middle English knyf"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "cnīf"
},
"expansion": "Old English cnīf"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "knífr"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse knífr"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*knīb"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *knīb"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*knībaz"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *knībaz"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*gneybʰ-"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ-"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lt",
"2": "gnýbti"
},
"expansion": "Lithuanian gnýbti"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "sax",
"t": "knife"
},
"expansion": "Middle English sax (“knife”)"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "seax"
},
"expansion": "Old English seax"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "enm",
"2": "coutel"
},
"expansion": "Middle English coutel"
},
{
"name": "ncog",
"args": {
"1": "fro",
"2": "coutel"
},
"expansion": "Old French coutel"
},
{
"name": "etydate",
"args": {
"1": "1865",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "first attested in 1865"
},
{
"name": "etydate",
"args": {
"1": "1733",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "first attested in 1733"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "yol",
"2": "kunnife",
"t": "knife"
},
"expansion": "Yola kunnife (“knife”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "knif",
"t": "knife"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian knif (“knife”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "knijf",
"t": "long pointy knife, poniard"
},
"expansion": "Dutch knijf (“long pointy knife, poniard”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Knifte",
"t": "rifle; thick slicebread"
},
"expansion": "German Knifte (“rifle; thick slicebread”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Knief",
"t": "knife"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Knief (“knife”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "lb",
"2": "Knäip",
"t": "paring knife"
},
"expansion": "Luxembourgish Knäip (“paring knife”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb,nn",
"2": "kniv",
"t": "knife"
},
"expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk kniv (“knife”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "knívur",
"t": "knife"
},
"expansion": "Faroese knívur (“knife”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "hnífur"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic hnífur"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "knif"
},
"expansion": "Swedish knif"
}
],
"links": [
[
"knyf",
"knyf#Middle_English"
],
[
"knif",
"knif#Middle_English"
],
[
"cnīf",
"cnif#Old_English"
],
[
"knífr",
"knífr#Old_Norse"
],
[
"*knīb",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/knīb"
],
[
"*knībaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/knībaz"
],
[
"*knīpaną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/knīpaną"
],
[
"*gneybʰ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/gneybʰ-"
],
[
"gnýbti",
"gnybti#Lithuanian"
],
[
"žnýbti",
"žnybti#Lithuanian"
],
[
"gnaibis",
"gnaibis#Lithuanian"
],
[
"sax",
"sax#Middle_English"
],
[
"seax",
"seax#Old_English"
],
[
"coutel",
"coutel#Middle_English"
],
[
"qwetyll",
"qwetyll#Middle_English"
],
[
"coutel",
"coutel#Old_French"
],
[
"knive",
"knive#English"
],
[
"kunnife",
"kunnife#Yola"
],
[
"knif",
"knif#North_Frisian"
],
[
"knijf",
"knijf#Dutch"
],
[
"Knifte",
"Knifte#German"
],
[
"Knief",
"Knief#Low_German"
],
[
"Knäip",
"Knäip#Luxembourgish"
],
[
"Danish",
"kniv#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"kniv#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"kniv",
"kniv#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"knívur",
"knívur#Faroese"
],
[
"hnífur",
"hnífur#Icelandic"
],
[
"knífur",
"knífur#Icelandic"
],
[
"knif",
"knif#Swedish"
],
[
"kniv",
"kniv#Swedish"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To cut with a knife.",
"To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.",
"To cut through as if with a knife.",
"To betray, especially in the context of a political slate."
],
"tags": [
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"intransitive"
],
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