Etymologically
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cunning

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈkʌnɪŋ/[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries take the adjective as inherited from Middle English conning, also cunning and the northern connand,[2][3][4] formed from Middle English connen (“to know”) + -ing, the present participle of the verb.[3][5][4][6][7][8][9] connen is from Old English cunnan (“to know (how)”),[5][4][6] the source of can, from Proto-Indo-European *gnō- (“to know”).[5][6] The word is not found in Old English.[3] Others take it from Old Norse kunnandi (“knowing; knowledge”), the present participle of kunna (“to know”), with its ending replaced by the English one:[10][11][12] Barnhart thinks the northern connand (about 1300) was borrowed from Scandinavian and later replaced by the midland and southern form,[4] the Oxford Dictionary of English allows either source,[13] and Ayto finds it unclear which is right, calling it a parallel formation to canny.[14] The noun is a verbal noun of the same Middle English verb;[3][5][4][7] Hoad suggests it was modelled on the adjective, and Skeat that it was perhaps suggested by the Old Norse word.[11][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective first meant learned, possessing knowledge: about 1325, in the Metrical Homilies.[3] Barnhart's first record is Mannyng's Chronicle (before 1338), meaning skilful or clever.[4] The noun, meaning knowledge or learning, is recorded from about 1300.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the adjective meant learned and then skilful, expert: the Wycliffite Bible of 1382 describes David as kunnynge to harp,[3][9] and the noun meant knowledge, wisdom, a branch of learning or craft, and practical skill, the last used by Chaucer about 1374.[3] Both words were approving at first, with no suggestion of deceit.[12][13][14] The bad sense, skill used for deceit, is dated to the late 14th century by Etymonline, probably before 1402 by Barnhart, and to the late 16th century by Ayto and Hoad;[5][4][14][11] the OED's first records are from 1582 for the noun and, for the adjective, Spenser (1590) and Shakespeare.[3] Trench counted it among the words for knowledge and skill that sank to mean crooked skill, citing Bacon's remark "We take cunning for a sinister or crooked wisdom", while the honourable use lasted much longer, as in the Authorized Version.[15] Shakespeare's cunning man (1594) was a wizard or fortune-teller,[3][12] and Jonson's cunning men (1614) were tricksters who cast fortunes.[16] From 1843, in Dickens, and chiefly in American English, the adjective also meant quaint or attractive,[3][4] which Barnhart suggests was modelled on cute.[4] The older sense "skill" is now a literary archaism, as in the Psalms' "let my right hand forget her cunning".[3][7] In dialect as cunning as Crowder was a common simile in Shropshire.[17]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – noun, knowledge, learning (now obsolete); northern adjective connand.[5][4]
  • c. 1325 – learned (obsolete by 1667).[3]
  • 1340 – noun, the faculty of knowing; wit (obsolete by 1533).[3]
  • c. 1374 – noun, skill, in Chaucer.[3]
  • 1382 – skilful, expert.[3]
  • 1423 – of things, skilfully made.[3]
  • 1582 – noun, skill used for deceit.[3]
  • 1590 – of things, crafty.[3]
  • 1594 – cunning man, a wizard or fortune-teller.[3]
  • before 1616 – of people, crafty, sly.[3]
  • 1843 – chiefly American, attractive, cute.[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Crafty and clever at getting one's way, especially by deceit; sly: as cunning as a fox.[18][7][3]
  2. Made or done with skill; ingenious: a cunning little device for opening jars.[18][3][7]
  3. (chiefly US, informal) Attractive or quaint; cute.[3][4]
  4. (archaic) Skilful, expert.[3][10]
  5. (obsolete, 1325–1667) Learned; versed in a subject.[3][10]

Noun

  1. Cleverness used to deceive; craftiness or slyness.[18][7][3]
  2. Skill or cleverness; dexterity.[18][7][3]
  3. (obsolete, 1340–1670) Knowledge, learning.[3][10]

Word family

  • cunningly
  • cunningness
  • overcunning

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  15. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  16. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  18. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins