Etymograph

English

know

Know comes from Middle English knowen ‘to know’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *knēaną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knēaną1‘to know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*knāan1‘to recognise’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwan1‘to know’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knowen1‘to know’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1526know1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English know
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Ye ſhall knowe them by their frutes.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*knēanąWiktionary, English know‘to know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*knāanWiktionary, English know‘to recognise’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwanWiktionary, English know‘to know’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knowenWiktionary, English know‘to know’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1526knowWiktionary, English know. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Ye ſhall knowe them by their frutes.”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with know, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to know’

  • can ← cunnan ← *kunnan ← *kunnaną ← *ǵn̥néh₃ti
  • could ← coude ← cūþe ← cunnan ← *kunnaną
  • normal ← normālis ← nōrma ← γνώμων
  • note ← not ← nota ← nōscō ← gnōscō
  • notice ← nōtitia ← nōtus ← nōscō ← gnōscō
  • recognize ← reconoistre ← reconoistre ← recognosco ← cognōscō
  • recognition ← recognicion ← recognicion ← recognitiōnem ← recognitus
  • narrative ← narratif ← narrātīvus ← narrō ← *gnārāō
  • glory ← glorie ← glōria ← *gnōr-
  • con ← connen ← cunnan ← *kunnan ← *kunnaną
  • ken ← kennen ← cennan ← cunnan ← *kannijan
  • ignore ← ignorer ← īgnōrō

119 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “know”. 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-Germanic *knēaną / know