knaw

English

Etymology 1

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Verb

knaw (third-person singular simple present knaws, present participle knawing, simple past and past participle knawed)

  1. Archaic spelling of gnaw.

Verb

knaw (third-person singular simple present knaws, present participle knawing, simple past knawed, past participle knawn)

  1. Nonstandard form of know.

Anagrams

Middle English

Noun

knaw

  1. Alternative form of knave

Middle Welsh

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old Irish cnáim (“bone”),[1] but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Celtic *knāmis, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κνήμη (knḗmē, “tibia”) and English ham.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /knau̯/

Noun

knaw m (plural kneu or knouein)

  1. bone
  2. skull

Descendants
  • ⇒ Welsh: pencnaw (“end of a bone”)

Mutation
Middle Welsh mutation
RadicalSoftNasalAspirate
knawgnawknaw / chnaw
pronounced with /ŋ̊-/		chnaw
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References
  1. Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 211

Further reading
  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cnaw”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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