Etymograph

English

knock

Knock comes from Middle English knokken, from Old English cnocian ‘to knock, beat’, from Proto-Germanic *knukōną, ultimately from PIE *gnew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gnew-1‘to squeeze, pinch, ball up’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knu-1‘to pound on, beat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knukōną1‘to knock’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*knokōn1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnocian1‘to knock, pound on, beat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knokken1
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594knock1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English knock
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “Master, knock the door hard.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gnew-Wiktionary, English knock‘to squeeze, pinch, ball up’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knu-Wiktionary, English knock‘to pound on, beat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knukōnąWiktionary, English knock‘to knock’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*knokōnWiktionary, English knockreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnocianWiktionary, English knock‘to knock, pound on, beat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knokkenWiktionary, English knock
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594knockWiktionary, English knock. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “Master, knock the door hard.”

The story

The English word is cognate with Middle High German knochen (‘to hit’), Old English cnuian, cnuwian (‘to pound, knock’), Old Norse knoka (compare Danish knuge (‘to squeeze’), Swedish knocka (‘to hug’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun An abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “knock”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gnew- / knock