Etymograph

English

knowledge

Knowledge comes from Middle English knoweleche, from late Old English cnāwelǣċ ‘acknowledgement’, from cnāwan ‘to know’ + -lǣċ.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwan1‘to know’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwelǣċ2‘acknowledgement’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knoweleche2‘knowledge’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1526knowledge2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English knowen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English knowledge
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwanWiktionary, Middle English knowen‘to know’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150cnāwelǣċWiktionary, English knowledge‘acknowledgement’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500knowelecheWiktionary, English knowledge‘knowledge’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1526knowledgeWiktionary, English knowledge. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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’

known, 2 more

Today it means

noun The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “knowledge”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English knowen. 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 / Old English cnāwan / knowledge

Shirt and support for this word