English
knowledge
Knowledge comes from Middle English knoweleche, from late Old English cnāwelǣċ ‘acknowledgement’, from cnāwan ‘to know’ + -lǣċ.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwan‘to know’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150cnāwelǣċ‘acknowledgement’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knoweleche‘knowledge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1526knowledge
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwan‘to know’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150cnāwelǣċ‘acknowledgement’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knoweleche‘knowledge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1526knowledge
Earliest quotation: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself…”
The story
For more on the Middle English suffix -leche, compare freelage.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to know’
can, could, normal, note, notice, recognize, recognition, narrative, glory, ignore, con, ken, keen, cognitive, notion, ignorant, noble, norm, diagnostic, notorious, cunning, cognition, narration, notation, nobility, quaint, prognosis, incognito, notoriety, gnome, notary, canny, agnostic, connoisseur, uncouth, canna, kith, recognizance, cognizance, gnosis, 90 more
through Middle English knowen ‘to know’
Today it means
noun The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English cnāwan / knowledge