English
knout
Knout comes from French knout ‘knout, scourge’, from Old Norse knútr ‘knot in a cord’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knuttô.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knuttô‘a knot’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350knútr‘knot in a cord’
- Old East Slavicmodernкнутъknutŭ
- Russianmodernкнутknut‘whip, knout, scourge’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentknout‘knout, scourge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1832same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knuttô‘a knot’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350knútr‘knot in a cord’
- Old East Slavicmodernкнутъknutŭ
- Russianmodernкнутknut‘whip, knout, scourge’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentknout‘knout, scourge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1832same form
Earliest quotation: 1832, Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Tales out of School. A Dropt Letter from a Lady.: “In Moscow, a Court carbonadoes / His ignorant serfs…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gnod- ‘to bind’
through Proto-Germanic *knuttô ‘a knot’
Today it means
noun A leather scourge (multi-tail whip), in the severe version known as 'great knout' with metal weights on each tongue, notoriously used in imperial Russia.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *knuttô / knout