English
knothole
From knot + hole.
Proto-Germanic *knuttô ‘a knot’
Proto-West Germanic *knottō
Old English cnotta
Middle English knotte ‘knot, tie’
English knot
Proto-Germanic *hulaz ‘hollow’
Proto-Germanic *hulą ‘hollow space’
Proto-West Germanic *hol ‘hollow space, cavity’
Old English hol ‘hole, hollow place’
Middle English hole
English hole
Today it means
noun In a piece of lumber, a void left by a knot in the wood; such holes are often convenient for peering through when they occur in fences.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / knothole