cneow

cneow

Old English

Alternative forms

• cnēo
• cnēoƿ (wynn spelling)

Etymology

From earlier cnēo, with the w of the oblique forms and the long diphthong of the endingless forms generalized throughout the paradigm. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knewą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu.

Germanic cognates: Old Frisian knē, Old Saxon knio, Old High German knio, Old Norse kné, Gothic 𐌺𐌽𐌹𐌿 (kniu).

Indo-European cognates: Sanskrit जानु (jānu), Avestan 𐬲𐬥𐬏𐬨‎ (žnūm), Old Armenian ծունր (cunr), Albanian gju, Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu), Latin genu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kneːo̯w/

Noun

cnēow n

1. the knee

   Hīe sǣton on cnēowum: they sat on their knees.

2. a generation

   On ānum cnēowe: in one generation.

Declension

Declension of cneow (strong-a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	cnēow	cnēow
accusative	cnēow	cnēow
genitive	cnēowes	cnēowa
dative	cnēowe	cnēowum

Descendants

• Middle English: kne, knee, cneowe, cneo, knew, know,
  • English: knee
  • Scots: kne, kney, knie