Etymograph

English

knock

Knock comes from Middle English knokken, from Old English cnocian ‘to knock, beat’, from Proto-Germanic *knukōną, ultimately from PIE *gnew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gnew-‘to squeeze, pinch, ball up’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knu-‘to pound on, beat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knukōną‘to knock’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*knokōnreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnocian‘to knock, pound on, beat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knokken
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594knock

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gnew-‘to squeeze, pinch, ball up’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knu-‘to pound on, beat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knukōną‘to knock’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*knokōnreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnocian‘to knock, pound on, beat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knokken
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594knock

Earliest quotation: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “Master, knock the door hard.”

The story

The English word is cognate with Middle High German knochen (‘to hit’), Old English cnuian, cnuwian (‘to pound, knock’), Old Norse knoka (compare Danish knuge (‘to squeeze’), Swedish knocka (‘to hug’)).

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *gnew-

Today it means

noun An abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gnew- / knock

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