Etymograph

English

knife

Knife comes from Middle English knyf, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr or Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knīpaną1‘to pinch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knībaz1reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350knífr1uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnīf1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knyf1‘knife’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1843knife1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English knife
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1843, The Foreign Quarterly Review, Treuttel and Würtz: “One day his sergeant began to cane him, on…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knīpanąWiktionary, English knife‘to pinch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knībazWiktionary, English knifereconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350knífrWiktionary, English knifeuncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnīfWiktionary, English knife
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knyfWiktionary, English knife‘knife’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1843knifeWiktionary, English knife. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1843, The Foreign Quarterly Review, Treuttel and Würtz: “One day his sergeant began to cane him, on…”

first attested first attested in 1865 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną

Today it means

noun A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge, attached to a handle. The blade may be pointed for piercing.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *knīpaną / knife

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