knowledge English · revision 3163

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=early 12th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈnɒl.ɪdʒ/, US /ˈnɑː.lɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|knowlege]], knawlage, earlier cnawlece,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) probably from the Middle English verb knowlechen “to acknowledge”,^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from an Old English compound recorded only in the noun cnāwelǣċing,^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) formed on [[m|ang|cnāwan|t=to know]] and -lǣċan,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from the suffix that gave [[-lock]] in [[wedlock]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Etymonline calls the second element obscure, perhaps Scandinavian.^(Etymonline) The earliest form, knaulage, was northern.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Acknowledgement of a superior, honor, worship: early 12th century.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Hoad dates the word to the 13th century, with the senses “confession” and “acquaintance”.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The earliest senses go with the verb, acknowledging and confessing, and are obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) From the late 14th century the word meant the capacity for knowing, familiarity, awareness of a fact, news, learning, and an organized body of facts or teachings.^(Etymonline) The sexual sense, as in ''carnal knowledge'', is from about 1400,^(Etymonline) and the verb ''knowledge'' meant both “to acknowledge” (about 1200) and “to have sexual intercourse with” (about 1300).^(Etymonline) The verb was replaced by [[acknowledge]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) defined knowledge first as “certain perception”.^(Johnson 1755) ''Knowledgeable'' first meant “recognizable”, from the verb, and later, from the noun and originally in dialect, “well informed”.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 12th century – acknowledgement, honor.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to acknowledge.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1350 – recognition.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – familiarity; learning.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – sexual intercourse.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[familiarity|alt=Familiarity]], awareness or understanding gained through experience or study.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The state or fact of knowing.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The sum of what is known; [[learning]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Specific [[information]] about something.^(AHD)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Sexual intercourse, in ''carnal knowledge''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[knowledgeless]]

+ * [[acknowledge]]

+ * [[foreknowledge]]

+ * [[knowledgeable]]

+ * [[self-knowledge]]

+ * [[preknowledge]]

+ * [[superknowledge]]

+ * [[knowledge engineering]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[know]]

+ * [[knowing]]

+ * [[wedlock]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Knowledge'' is the broadest word for what is known, by study or experience;^(AHD) ''information'' suggests facts gathered without necessarily being understood, and ''learning'' and ''erudition'' knowledge gained by long study.^(AHD) In Pembrokeshire a ''knowledge'' was a small quantity (“just a knowledge of cheese”).^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}