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Origin and history of know

know(v.)

Old English cnawan (class VII strong verb; past tense cneow, past participle cnawen), "perceive a thing to be identical with another," also "be able to distinguish" generally (tocnawan); "perceive or understand as a fact or truth" (opposed to believe); "know how (to do something)," from Proto-Germanic *knew- (source also of Old High German bi-chnaan, ir-chnaan "to know"), from PIE root *gno- "to know."

For pronunciation, see kn-. Once widespread in Germanic, the verb is now retained there only in English, where 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 "perceive, understand, recognize," savoir "have a knowledge of, know how;" Latin scire "to understand, perceive," cognoscere "get to know, recognize;" Old Church Slavonic znaja, vemi). The Anglo-Saxons also used two distinct words for this, the other being witan (see wit (v.)).

From c. 1200 as "to experience, live through." The meaning "to have sexual intercourse with," also found in other modern languages, is attested from c. 1200, from the Old Testament (Genesis iv.1). Attested from 1540s in colloquial phrases suggesting cunning or savvy (but often in the negative).

As far as (one) knows "to the best of (one's) knowledge" is late 14c. Expression God knows is from c. 1400. To know too much (to be allowed to live, escape, etc.) is from 1872. To know better "to have learned from experience" is from 1704.

As an expression of surprise, what do you know attested by 1914. Don't I know it in the opposite sense ("you need not tell me") is by 1841.

know(n.)

"inside information," 1883, in in the know, from know (v.) Earlier it meant "knowledge, fact of knowing" (1590s).

also from 1883

Entries linking to know

wit(v.)

"to know, be certain about, have knowledge of" (archaic), Old English witan (past tense wast, past participle witen) "to know, beware of or conscious of, understand, observe, ascertain, learn," from Proto-Germanic *witanan "to have seen," hence "to know" (from PIE root *weid- "to see;" compare wise (adj.)).

The phrase to wit, almost the only surviving use of the verb, is recorded by 1570s, from earlier that is to wit (mid-14c.), itself probably a loan-translation of Anglo-French cestasavoir, used to render Latin videlicet (see viz.).

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon witan, Old Norse vita, Old Frisian wita, Middle Dutch, Dutch weten, Old High German wizzan, German wissen, Gothic witan "to know."

God wot "God knows," used to emphasize truth, is by early 13c. Also see wist.

acknowledge(v.)

late 15c., "admit or show one's knowledge," a blend of Middle English aknow "admit or show one's knowledge" and Middle English knowlechen "admit, acknowledge" (c. 1200; see knowledge). Middle English aknow is from Old English oncnawan "understand, come to recognize," from on (see on (prep.)) + cnawan "recognize" (see know).

"By 16th c. the earlier vbs. knowledge and a(c)know ... were obs., and acknowledge took their place" [OED, 1989]. In the merger, an unetymological -c- slipped in; perhaps the explanation is that when English kn- became a simple "n" sound, the -c- stepped up to preserve, in this word, the ancient "kn-" sound. Related: Acknowledged; acknowledging.