knife English · revision 5377
16 Oct 2026, 02:25 by bogdan “en10k b0202: deck … bureau” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a. 1100|origins=non knífr}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /naɪf/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|knif]], [[inh|ang|cnīf]], probably [[bor|non|knífr|t=knife, dirk]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from [[gem-pro|*knībaz]], the source also of Middle Low German knīf and Middle Dutch cnijf,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) There are also forms with p, such as German kneifen “to pinch”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) French canif “penknife” (mid-15th century) is probably of Germanic origin.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A cutting tool with a blade and handle: before 1100 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) A knife used as a weapon is from about 1175.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A blade forming part of a machine is from 1833.^(OED 1989) ''Before you can say knife'', very quickly, is from 1874, and ''the knife'' for surgery from 1880.^(OED 1989) ''To get one's knife into'' someone, to show malice, is from 1890,^(OED 1989) and an atmosphere ''you could cut with a knife'' from 1892.^(OED 1989) The verb, to stab with a knife, is from 1865,^(Etymonline) to betray in politics later,^(SOED 2002)^(AHD) and the intransitive sense “to move like a knife” from 1920.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * a. 1100 – a cutting tool.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * c. 1175 – a weapon.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1865 – verb, to stab.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1880 – ''the knife'', surgery.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1920 – to cut through.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A tool with a sharp [[blade]] fixed to a handle, used for cutting or as a weapon.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A cutting blade in a machine.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To cut or [[stab]] with a knife.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # To try to defeat someone by underhand means.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+ # To pass through something like a knife.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[knifer]]
+ * [[knifelike]]
+ * [[knife-edge]]
+ * [[knifepoint]]
+ * [[paperknife]]
+ * [[knife pleat]]
+ * [[knife rest]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[penknife]]
+ * [[jackknife]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}