Etymologically
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knife

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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
  • 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