know
pronunciation
How to pronounce know in British English:
UK [nəʊ]
How to pronounce know in American English:
US [noʊ]
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- Verb:
- be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
- know how to do or perform something
- be aware of the truth of something; have a belief or faith in something; regard as true beyond any doubt
- be familiar or acquainted with a person or an object
- have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations
- accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority
- have fixed in the mind
- have sexual intercourse with
- know the nature or character of
- be able to distinguish, recognize as being different
- perceive as familiar
Word Origin
- know
- know: [11] The words for ‘know’ in the various Indo-European languages mostly belong to one large many-branched family which goes back ultimately to the base *gn-, which also produced English can and ken. Its Latin offspring was nōscere, from which English gets cognition, incognito, note, quaint, etc. From its Greek branch come English agnostic and diagnosis.And in other Indo-European languages it is represented by, among others, Sanskrit jānáti ‘know’, Old Irish gnáth ‘known’, and Russian znat’. In the other Germanic languages it is the immediate relatives of English can (German and Dutch kennen, Swedish känna, Danish kende) that are used for ‘know’; know itself, which was originally a reduplicated form, survives only in English.The -ledge of knowledge [13] was probably originally the suffix -lock ‘action, process’, which otherwise survives only in wedlock. Acknowledge [15] is derived from knowledge.=> agnostic, can, cognition, diagnosis, incognito, ken, knowledge, note, quaint, recognize
- know (v.)
- Old English cnawan (class VII strong verb; past tense cneow, past participle cnawen), "to know, perceive; acknowledge, declare," from Proto-Germanic *knew- (cognates: Old High German bi-chnaan, ir-chnaan "to know"), from PIE root *gno- "to know" (cognates: Old Persian xšnasatiy "he shall know;" Old Church Slavonic znati, Russian znat "to know;" Latin gnoscere; Greek *gno-, as in gignoskein; Sanskrit jna- "know"). Once widespread in Germanic, this form is now retained only in English, where however it has widespread application, covering meanings that require two or more verbs in other languages (such as German wissen, kennen, erkennen and in part können; French connaître, savoir; Latin novisse, cognoscere; Old Church Slavonic znaja, vemi). The Anglo-Saxons used two distinct words for this, witan (see wit) and cnawan. Meaning "to have sexual intercourse with" is attested from c. 1200, from the Old Testament. To not know one's ass from one's elbow is from 1930. To know better "to have learned from experience" is from 1704. You know as a parenthetical filler is from 1712, but it has roots in 14c. To know too much (to be allowed to live, escape, etc.) is from 1872. As an expression of surprise, what do you know attested by 1914.
- know (n.)
- "inside information" (as in in the know), 1883; earlier "fact of knowing" (1590s), from know (v.).
Synonym
Example
- 1. Do you know the words ?
- 2. I must know his voucher .
- 3. Our dads know each other .
- 4. But do you know why ?
- 5. How do you know this ?