knife

Pronunciation

• IPA: /naɪf/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English knif, inherited from Old English cnīf, probably borrowed from Old Norse knífr (“knife, dirk”),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, the source also of Middle Low German knīf and Middle Dutch cnijf,^[2][4][3] a word of uncertain origin.^[2][4] There are also forms with p, such as German kneifen “to pinch”.^[2][3] French canif “penknife” (mid-15th century) is probably of Germanic origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A cutting tool with a blade and handle: before 1100 in the OED and Barnhart.^[6][3] A knife used as a weapon is from about 1175.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A blade forming part of a machine is from 1833.^[6] Before you can say knife, very quickly, is from 1874, and the knife for surgery from 1880.^[6] To get one's knife into someone, to show malice, is from 1890,^[6] and an atmosphere you could cut with a knife from 1892.^[6] The verb, to stab with a knife, is from 1865,^[2] to betray in politics later,^[7][8] and the intransitive sense “to move like a knife” from 1920.^[2]

Timeline

• a. 1100 – a cutting tool.^[6][3]
• c. 1175 – a weapon.^[6]
• 1865 – verb, to stab.^[2]
• 1880 – the knife, surgery.^[6]
• 1920 – to cut through.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A tool with a sharp blade fixed to a handle, used for cutting or as a weapon.
2. A cutting blade in a machine.

Verb

1. To cut or stab with a knife.
2. To try to defeat someone by underhand means.
3. To pass through something like a knife.

Word family

• knifer
• knifelike
• knife-edge
• knifepoint
• paperknife
• knife pleat
• knife rest

Related words

• penknife
• jackknife

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin