knaw
English
Etymology 1
This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Verb
knaw (third-person singular simple present knaws, present participle knawing, simple past and past participle knawed)
- Archaic spelling of gnaw.
Verb
knaw (third-person singular simple present knaws, present participle knawing, simple past knawed, past participle knawn)
- Nonstandard form of know.
Anagrams
- Kwan, kawn, wank
Middle English
Noun
knaw
- Alternative form of knave
Middle Welsh
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Old Irish cnáim (“bone”),[1] but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Celtic *knāmis, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh₂m (“leg”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κνήμη (knḗmē, “tibia”) and English ham.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /knau̯/
Noun
knaw m (plural kneu or knouein)
- bone
- skull
Descendants
- ⇒ Welsh: pencnaw (“end of a bone”)
Mutation
| Middle Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Radical | Soft | Nasal | Aspirate |
| knaw | gnaw | knaw / chnaw pronounced with /ŋ̊-/ | chnaw |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||
References
- Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 211
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cnaw”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies