Pa. t. knew. Pa. pple. known. Forms: Inf. 1 cnáwan, 3–4 cnawe(n; 2–4 cnowe(n, 3 cnoue(n, 4–5 cnow; 3–5 knawe(n, 3–4 knaun, 5 Sc. knaue, (5–7 knau); 3–5 (3– Sc. and dial.) knaw; 3–4 knowen, (3 kneowen, 3–5 knoue(n, 5–6 knou, 6 knowne), 3–7 knowe, (6–7 kno), 5– know. Pa. t. 1–3 cnéow, 3 cneou, cnew, cneu, 3–4 kneow, 3–6 kneu, (4 kneuȝ, kneuh, kneȝ, knev, knuȝ, 5 kneew, knogh), 4–6 knewe, 3– knew. Also 3 cnawed, 5 knowede, 9 dial. knowed. Pa. pple. 1 cnáwen, 3–5 knawen, 3–4 knauen, (3 knaun(e), 4 knawe, 6 knaw, 7 Sc. knawne, 9 Sc. and north. knawn; 3–5 cnowe(n, 4–7 knowen, (4 -un, 4–5 -yn), 4–5 know(e, (5 kno, 6 knouin, knoen, 7 knouen), 6–7 knowne, 6– known. Also 2–3 i-cnawe(n, 3 -cnowe(n, 2–4 i-, ykna(u)we(n, -knowe(n. Also 3 knawed, knaued, knaud, 4 (9 dial.) knowed. [A Com. Teut. and Com. Aryan vb., now retained in Eng. alone of the Teut. languages: OE. (ʓe)cnáwan, pa. t. (ʓe)cnéow, pa. pple. (ʓe)cnáwen = OHG. -cnâan, -chnâan, -cnâhan, ON. pres. ind. kná, pl. knegum, Gothic type *knáian, *kaiknô, *knáians, a redupl. vb. not found in existing remains. Outside Teut., = OSlav. zna-tĭ, Russ. zna-t to know; L. *gnō-, whence the inceptive (g)nōscĕre, perf. (g)nōvi, pa. pple. (g)nōt-us; Gr. *γνω-, whence redupl. and inceptive γι-γνώ-σκειν, 2 aor. ἔ-γνω-ν; Skr. jnā- know. Generally held to be from the same root (gen-, gon-, gṇ-) as CAN v., and KEN. Already in early times the simple vb. had sustained various losses; in L. and Gr. the pres. stem survived only in derived forms; in Gothic the word is not recorded; in ON. the pres. inf. was obs.; in ON. and OHG. the orig. strong pa. t. and pa. pple. were lost; in OHG. and OE. the vb. was app. known only in composition, as in OE. ʓecnáwan, oncnáwan, tócnáwan. The first of these may be considered as the historical ancestor of ME. and mod. know, for although it came down in southern ME. as i-knowen, y-knowe, the prefix was regularly dropped in midl. and north., giving the simple stem form cnawen, knawe(n, knowe(n, which was well-established in all the main senses by 1200 (a single instance being known a. 1100). The verb has since had a vigorous life, having also occupied with its meaning the original territory of the vb. WIT, Ger. wissen, and that of CAN, so far as this meant to ‘know.’ Hence Eng. know covers the ground of Ger. wissen, kennen, erkennen, and (in part) können, of Fr. connaître and savoir, of L. nōvisse, co-gnōscĕre, and scīre, of Gr. γιγνώσκειν and εἰδέναι (οἶδα). But in Sc. the verb KEN has supplanted knaw, and come to be the sense-equivalent of ‘know’ in all its extent of signification. As ʓecnáwan came down as late as 1400 in form iknowen YKNOW, the pa. pple. in i-, y-, in southern ME., may belong to either form.]
Signification. From the fact that know now covers the ground formerly occupied by several verbs, and still answers to two verbs in other Teutonic and Romanic languages, there is much difficulty in arranging its senses and uses satisfactorily. However, as the word is etymologically related to Gr. γιγνώσκειν, L. (g)nōscere and (g)nōvisse, F. connaître (:—L. cognōscĕre) to ‘know by the senses,’ Ger. können and kennen, Eng. can, ken, it appears proper to start with the uses which answer to these words, rather than with those which belonged to the archaic vb. to WIT, Ger. wissen, and are expressed by L. scīre and F. savoir, to ‘know by the mind.’ This etymological treatment of the word, and the uses to which it has been put, differs essentially from a logical or philosophical analysis of the notion of ‘knowing,’ and the verbal forms and phrases by which this is expressed, in which the word ‘know’ is taken as an existing fact, without reference to the history of its uses.
Know, in its most general sense, has been defined by some as ‘To hold for true or real with assurance and on (what is held to be) an adequate objective foundation.’ Mr. James Ward, in Encycl. Brit., XX. 49 s.v. Psychology, assigns to the word two main meanings: ‘To know may mean either to perceive or apprehend, or it may mean to understand or comprehend…. Thus a blind man, who cannot know about light in the first sense, may know about light in the second, if he studies a treatise on optics.’ Others hold that the primary and only proper object of knowing is a fact or facts (as in our sense 10), and that all so-called knowing of things or persons resolves itself, upon analysis, into the knowing of certain facts about these, as their existence, identity, nature, attributes, etc., the particular fact being understood from the context, or by a consideration of the kind of fact which is usually wanted to be known about the thing or person in question. Thus, ‘Do you know Mr. G.?’, ‘Do you know Balliol College?’ have different meanings according to the kind of facts about Mr. G. or Balliol College, which are the objects of inquiry.
I. 1. trans. To perceive (a thing or person) as identical with one perceived before, or of which one has a previous notion; to recognize; to identify. Sometimes with again; also, later, with for.
[Beowulf, 2047. Meaht ðu, min wine, mece ʓecnawan þone þin fæder to ʓefeohte bær.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xxvii. 12. ʓif min fæder me handlaþ and me ʓecnæwþ. Ibid., xxxviii. 36. Ða he ða lac ʓecneow.]
a. 1100. in Napier, O. E. Glosses, 76. Noscuntur, .i. intelleguntur, þa beoð cnawene.
c. 1200. Ormin, 1314. Lamb … cann cnawenn swiþe wel Hiss moderr þær ȝho blæteþþ.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2162. Ðe .x. comen … To Iosep, and he ne knewen him nogt.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4209. Quen his fader his kirtell kneu Moght na gamen him com to gleu.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xxvii. 348. All sone he hym with-drogh, ffro he saw that we hym knogh.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 232. This question,… whether that in the life everlasting, we shal know one an other.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 11. After two leagues pursuit, they knew her for a Portugall Carrack.
1706. Pope, Lett. to Wycherley, 10 April. They would not be chang’d so much, but any one would know them for the same at first sight.
1724. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier (1840), 26. For four days more I knew nobody.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., v. (1877), 111. I knew you, in spite of your hair, by your eyes.
1867. Howells, Ital. Journ., 63. I wonder how he should have known us for Americans?
b. To recognize or distinguish, or be able to distinguish (one thing) from (another) = OE. tócnáwan.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 6402 (Fairf.). Mony atte … knawes noȝt þe gode fra þe ille.
1406. Hoccleve, La Male Regle, 23. Now can I knowe feeste fro penaunce.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., III. iii. 44. We’ll teach him to know Turtles from Iayes.
1704. Pope, Windsor For., 175. Scarce could the Goddess from her nymph be known.
1843. Macaulay, Mme. D’Arblay, Ess. 1865, III. 295. Burney loved his own art passionately; and Johnson just knew the bell of Saint Clement’s church from the organ.
c. intr. To distinguish between. rare.
1864. Lowell, Fireside Trav., 3. Let him know between the good and evil fruits.
† 2. trans. To recognize in some capacity; to acknowledge; to admit the claims or authority of. = BEKNOW 3. Obs.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 2066. To him we kennið & cnaweð to lauerd.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3995. Þat þou nelt him iknowe [v.r. knowe] ne do þin seruage.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 519. Wyȝez wyl torne, & cum & cnawe me for kyng.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Thess. v. 12. We preien ȝou, that ȝe schulen knowe hem that trauelen among ȝou, and … that ȝe haue hem more haboundantli in charite [1611 and R. V. to know them].
c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.), 169. I … know the for my lorde.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 38. Thinke you that they wyll knowe or obey any civill Magistrate?
c. 1200. Ormin, 9818. Ne wollden þeȝȝ nohht cnawenn Ne ȝatenn þatt teȝȝ wærenn ohht Sinnfulle.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5107. Þat we haue misdon we will knau.
c. 1375. Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.), 51. Lered & lewed þat wil … knowe to god þat þai are ille.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 67. Knowe þi synne to vs, ȝif þou be gylty.
1467. Burgh Rec. Aberdeen, 2 Dec (Spald. Cl.), I. 27. The said Thomas sal … opynly knaw that he has offendit til him.
† b. refl. To make confession, confess; also with compl., to confess oneself (to be) something.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 132. Al ha cneowen [v.r. icneowen] ham crauant & ouercumen.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 18488. Loues nu vr lauerd dright, And knau yow til him o yur plight. Ibid. (c. 1375), (Fairf. MS.), 26959. Qua buxumli him-self knawes [Cott. be-knaus] sal haue mercy.
14[?]. Masse, in Tundale’s Vis. (1843), 148. Sey ye with hym Confiteor Or ellis in Ynglysch thus therfor I know me to God.
1478. Croscombe Church-w. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.), 7. Comes … and cnowth hym dettar to the Cherch for his servant xxd.
† c. intr. (for refl.) Obs.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 71. Kneoweð ure louerd [confitemini domino].
a. 1350. Cursor M., 18488 (Gött.). Louis nu vr lauerd dright, An knau til him of ȝur plight.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., B. XI. 273. For he kneuȝ on þe crois & to crist shref hym.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 21. Ðat ic scolde bien icnawe of mine sennes.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 123. Þe man … þe beð is gultes cnowe.
c. 1205. Lay., 26433. Ȝif þu wulle icnawen beo þat Arður is king ouer þe.
c. 1310. Marina, 53, in Böddeker, Alt. Eng. Dicht., 258. He nolde be knowe for no þyng þat hit wes a mayde ȝyng.
c. 1330. Assump. Virg., § 34 (Br. Mus. Add. MS.). Ȝif … he wille on his last þrowe Schryue him & ben y-knowe.
† 4. trans. To perceive (with the senses). Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 1684. Coryneus … busched þem on a rowe Þat þe Frensche moughte þem nought knowe.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., III. xxi. (1495), 69. The sighte knoweth hewe and colour and the taast knoweth sauour.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 63. He saȝe þam in þe hiȝe see … Carrygis comand he knew keruand þe ithis.
II. 5. To be acquainted with (a thing, a place, or a person); to be familiar with by experience, or through information or report (= F. connaître, Ger. kennen). Sometimes, To have such familiarity with (something) as gives understanding or insight.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 137. For hereword to habbene and beon iwurðeȝede fir and neor ðer þe heo icnawene beoð.
c. 1205. Lay., 4623. Ne þas strond we ne cnoweð Þe we isoht habbeð.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 202. He kennede him in heore craft and kneuȝ mony gummes.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 240. He knew the Tauernes wel in al the toun.
1485. Caxton, Pref. Malory’s Arthur. Alysaunder the grete, &… Iulyus Cezar … of whome thystoryes ben wel kno and had.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. ii. 188. You haue been a man long knowne to me, though I had neuer so good means as desire, to make my selfe acquainted with you.
1634. Milton, Comus, 311. I know each lane, and every alley green,… of this wilde Wood.
1710. Addison, Tatler, No. 192, ¶ 5. A Story that is very well known in the North of England.
1800. Med. Jrnl., IV. 400. The external use of cold water has been known and practised from the earliest periods.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. I. 365. Whoever could make himself agreeable to the prince,… might hope to rise in the world … without being even known by sight to any minister of state.
b. refl. To know oneself.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 123. þe man cnoweð him seluen þe þencheð of wu medeme þinge he is shapen.
c. 1305. Knowe þi self, 3, in E. E. P. (1862), 130. Vche cristen creature knowen hym self ouht.
1484. Caxton, Æsop, II. Fable 17. Who that knoweth hym self lytel he preyseth hym self.
1531. Elyot, Gov., III. iii. Nosce te ipsum, whiche is in englysshe, know thy selfe.
1707. Norris, Treat. Humility, ii. 58. We say of proud men that they do not understand themselves, or that they ought to be made to know themselves better.
1860. Pusey, Min. Proph., 455. In order to repent, a man must know himself thoroughly.
c. To have personal experience of (something) as affecting oneself; to have experienced, met with, felt or undergone. Also fig. of inanimate things. Chiefly in negative forms of expression.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 7. Justice of lawe tho was holde … The citees knewen no debat.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., I. iii. 16. In hauing knowne no trauaile in his youth.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 530. Whole Months they wander, grazing as they go; Nor Folds, nor hospitable Harbour know.
1877. E. R. Conder, Bas. Faith, iv. 151. ‘He has never known trouble;’ ‘He knows no fear,’ meaning that the person spoken of is not familiar with these feelings.
1879. R. K. Douglas, Confucianism, iii. 71. Running water which knows no stagnation.
1896. A. E. Housman, Shropshire Lad, l. And lads knew trouble at Knighton When I was a Knighton lad.
d. To know as, to be familiarly acquainted with under the name of; pass., to be commonly called.
1887. Co-operative News, XVIII. 242. The timbers … are not what is technically known as ‘blue.’
6. To be personally acquainted with (a person); to be familiar or intimate with; † to become acquainted with (obs.).
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VI. 222. If þow fynde any freke þat fortune hath appeyred,… fonde þow suche to cnowe; Conforte hem with þi catel.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 345. Duc Perotheus loued wel Arcite And hadde hym knowe at Thebes yeer by yere.
a. 1400. Pistill of Susan, 170. Hir kinrede, hir cosyns and al þat hire knewe.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron. Hen. VIII., 244. [He] curssed the tyme that ever he knewe Doctor Barnes.
1575. Laneham, Lett., 1. I am … acquainted with the most, and well knoen too the best, and euery officer glad of my company.
1726. G. Roberts, Four Years Voy., 312. He asked me, If I was acquainted with any of the Signores of the City?
I told him, I knew some of them.
1892. Mrs. H. Ward, David Grieve, III. 131. As to knowing people, you won’t take any trouble at all!
Mod. They are neighbours of ours, but we do not know them.
† b. pass. To be known, to be personally acquainted or on familiar terms with. Obs.
a. 1225. Juliana, 14. Ne ich neuer þat ich wite nes wið him icnawen.
1380. Lay Folks Catech. (Lamb. MS.), 178. He was homly and knowyn with þis lady.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 532. ‘I am knawin with the Quene,’ said Schir Rolland.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 117 b. He was so well knowen with the Emperour Soliman.
† c. intr. Of two persons: To be (mutually) acquainted. (= F. se connaître.) Obs.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. vi. 86. You, and I haue knowne sir. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., I. iv. 36. Sir, we haue knowne togither in Orleance.
7. trans. To have carnal acquaintance or sexual intercourse with. arch.
Chiefly a Hebraism which has passed into the mod. langs., but found also in Gr. and L. So Ger. erkennen, F. connaître.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2406. Ȝho … seȝȝde; Hu maȝȝ þiss forþedd ben þurrh me Þatt nan weppmann ne cnawe?
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 38. It was igain the lawe His brother wif fleyslic to knawe.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 155. He stode, & proued it … Þat his fader Henry þat ilk Aleyse had knowen.
1382. Wyclif, Gen. iv. 1. Adam forsothe knewe Eue his wijf.
1535. Joye, Apol. Tindale (Arb.), 48. Before she knew (that is) slept with hir howsbonde.
1572. Depos. Canterb. Cath. Libr. bk. 18 lf. 166 (MS.). To haue to doo with her, meaning carnallye to knowe this deponentes boddye.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, V. iii. 288. By Ioue, if euer I knew man, ’twas you. Ibid. (1603), Meas. for M., V. i. 203. That is Angelo, Who thinkes he knowes, that he nere knew my body.
c. 1613. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, II. iii. Will you swear here you never yet knew woman?
III. 8. To have cognizance of (something), through observation, inquiry or information; to be aware or apprised of (= F. savoir, Ger. wissen); † to become cognizant of, learn through information or inquiry, ascertain, find out (obs.).
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 463. Ȝef þu wult cnawen mi cun, ich am kinges dohter.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 577. Ȝit couþe non by no craft knowen hire sore.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. IX. 63. ‘What art þou,’ quod I ‘that my nome knowest?’
c. 1375. Quon. Attach., c 48 § 5, in Skene, Reg. Maj., 85 b. All hurdes and treasures hid vnder the earth … quhereof the awner is not knawin.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 175. He hit desyryd to know hys offence.
1531. Elyot, Gov., III. xxvi. Galene … exhorteth them to knowe exactly the accustomed diete of their patientes.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 38. How to divide a Triangle (whose Area or Content is known) into two Parts.
1706. Pope, Lett. to Wycherley, 10 April. Pray let me know your mind in this.
1776. Trial of Nundocomar, 23/1. I do not know his age exactly.
1872. Morley, Voltaire (1886), 10. The free-thinker [would fain pass] for a person with his own orthodoxies if you only knew them.
9. To be conversant with (a body of facts, principles, a method of action, etc.) through instruction, study or practice; esp. to have practical understanding of (a science, language, profession, etc.); to have learnt by study or practical experience; to be versed or skilled in; † to acquire skill in, to learn (obs.).
a. 1400. Pistill of Susan, 24. Þus thei lerne hire þe lawe, Cleer Clergye to knawe.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 20. Galienus seiþ, þat it is necessarie a surgian to knowe anotamie.
1598. Florio, Ital. Dict., Ep. Ded. Well to know Italian is a grace of all graces.
1639. Massinger, Unnat. Combat, I. i. Wks. (Rtldg.), 27/1. Nay, if a velvet petticoat move in the front, Buff jerkins must to the rear, I know my manners.
1749. Johnson, London, 115. All sciences a fasting Monsieur knows.
1762. Goldsmith, Cit. W., lxi. To know one profession only, is enough for one man to know.
1808. Scott, Marm., I. viii. Each, chosen for an archer good, Knew hunting-craft by lake or wood.
c. 1813. Mrs. Sherwood, Stories on Catechism, x. (1855), 83. Know you not the commandments of God?
1872. ‘L. Carroll,’ Through Looking Glass, ix. 192. Of course you know your ABC.
b. phr. To know better († better things), to have learnt better from experience; hence, to be more prudent or discreet (than to do something).
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, cii. 97 (J.). One would have thought you had known Better Things, than to Expect a Kindness from a Common Enemy.
1782. Mad. D’Arblay, Lett. to S. Crisp, Aug. You and I know better than to hum or be hummed in that manner.
1872. Punch, 24 Feb., 78/2. Some persons who should know better than to talk nonsense.
1886. Ruskin, Præterita, I. 431. Nothing to blame themselves in, except not having known better.
c. To have learnt by committing to memory; more fully, to know by heart: see HEART sb. 32.
1855. Pusey, Doctr. Real Presence, Note S. 602. Sozomen mentions a celebrated Ascetic … who … knew the Holy Scriptures by heart.
Mod. To know one’s lesson; to know one’s part, as in a play.
† d. refl. (in later use pass.) To be versed or skilled in. (= F. se connaître en.) Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 11064. Þer were chanons of clergye, & knewe þem wel in astronomye. Ibid., 11198. Y ne knowe me nought in swylk chaffare.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, XI. 412. Wallace beheld, quhilk weill in weir him knew.
1630. Lord, Banians & Persees, i. 33. To bee knowne onely in his owne busynes, and not to enquire after the things of the world.
1655. [see KNOWN 2].
10. To apprehend or comprehend as fact or truth; to have a clear or distinct perception or apprehension of; to understand or comprehend with clearness and feeling of certainty. Formerly, sometimes, † To get to understand, to find out by reasoning.
When the feeling of certainty is emphasized, know is often contrasted with believe.
c. 1200. Ormin, 15624. He cnew hemm alle wel & alle þeȝȝre þohhtess.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 217. Meny þinges beeþ þat mowe be knowe by manis kynde wytt.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), IV. xxviii. 75. Why is it thenne that he vseth nought discours of reason to knowe oute the trouthe?
1601. Gill, Treat. Trinitie, in Sacr. Philos. (1625), 215. I conclude, that there is nothing which is beleeved, but it may also be knowen.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 804. Mature In knowledge, as the Gods who all things know.
1744. Berkeley, Siris, § 253. We know a thing when we understand it.
1845. Trench, Huls. Lect., i. (1854), 16. We must pass into, and unite ourselves with, that which we would know, before we can know it more than in name.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xvii. IV. 56. It seems probable that … he did not know his own mind.
1874. Blackie, Self-Cult., 14. Count yourself not to know a fact when you know that it took place, but then only when you see it as it did take place.
b. absol. or intr. To have understanding or knowledge.
c. 1200. Ormin, 13811. Þu cnawesst rihht & trowwesst.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. X. 464. Suche lewed iottes … Þat imparfitly here knewe, And eke lyued.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., III. 277. When menne do with minde and vnderstanding conceyue the knowlege of things, they are thereby sayd (Scire) to know.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 22. By Speculation we know that we may the better know.
1832. Tennyson, Pal. Art, xli. Large-brow’d Verulam, The first of those who know. Ibid. (1850), In Mem., Prol. vi. We have but faith: we cannot know; For knowledge is of things we see.
1892. Mrs. H. Ward, David Grieve, II. 164. A word, a look from a real artist—from one of the great men who know.
11. To be cognizant, conscious, or aware of (a fact); to be informed of, to have learned; to apprehend (with the mind), to understand. With various constructions:
a. with dependent statement, usually introduced by that.
† Formerly sometimes passive, to be known that, in same sense.
[a. 1000. Juliana, 356. Þæt þu … sylf ʓecnawe þæt þis is soð.]
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 127. Þo nam he ȝeme of mannes liflode and cnew þat here dedes weren iuele.
c. 1425. Cursor M., 1905 (Trin.). Þenne was noe wel I knawe Þat þe flood hit was wiþdrawe.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, III. 273. I knaw he will do mekill for his kyne.
1479. Surtees Misc. (1888), 37. Be it knawen to all maner of men to whom this present writyng commys, that Robert Elwalde … is a trewe Ynglish man.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 375. You knowe, howe they were both letted by the war … and … also by sicknes.
1602. Shaks., Ham., IV. iii. 69. Till I know ’tis done, How ere my happes, my ioyes were ne’re begun.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 15. The Hollander … knows it right well, that there are none like English for Courage at Sea.
1702. Addison, Medals, i. Wks. 1721, I. 437. You do not know but it may have its usefulness. Ibid. (1712), Spect., No. 415, ¶ 3. I know there are Persons who look upon some of these Wonders of Art as Fabulous.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, Wks. 1883, VI. 336. I know you will expedite an answer.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 158. Tyrconnel threatened to let the king know that the lord president had … described his majesty as a fool.
1878. J. Cook, Lect. Orthod., vi. You know that you know that nothing can be known! How do you know that you know?
1879. Harlan, Eyesight, iii. 41. It is now known that the increased refraction … is the result of an increase in the convexity of the lens.
1889. J. K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat, 275. I know for a fact that they are there.
b. with dependent question, introduced by who, what, when, where, how, and the like; as I know who did it, I know where he lives. Often ellipt., giving rise to subst., adj., and advb. phrases, as I know not who, I know not how, dear knows where, etc.
The fact known is the answer to the question directly or indirectly expressed.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 81. Warbi we mihten cnowen gif hit soð were þat þu seist.
c. 1275. Lay., 4621. Ne cnowe non of þis gomes … in woche londe we beoþ icome.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 47. Ȝif helle is in myddel of þe erþe doun riȝt, me myȝte knowe how meny myle is to helle.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 1. Rekene and knowe which is the day of thi monthe.
1406. Hoccleve, La Male Regle, 41. Myn vnwar yowthe kneew nat what it wroghte.
1531. Elyot, Gov., I. xviii. I coulde neuer knowe who founde firste that disporte.
1567. Maplet, Gr. Forest, 28. Othersome … arise up of their owne accord not known how.
1649. Milton, Eikon., xvii. Wks. (1847), 317/1. Timothy and Titus, and I know not whom thir Successors.
1736. Butler, Anal., II. v. Wks. 1874, I. 211. We do not know what the whole natural or appointed consequences of vice are.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 44. He who does not know what is true will not know what is good.
1892. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ Mammon, II. 95. Chief manager, a millionaire, and I don’t know what.
c. with accusative and infinitive, as I know him to be a friend; also in the corresponding passive, as he is known to be friendly.
The infin. to be is sometimes omitted; its place may be taken by as or for.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6715. If his lauerd kneu him kene o horn … If he sla man or womman, þis ox þan sal be taght to slan.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. IV. 164. Who-so wilneth hir to wyf … But he be knowe for a koke-wolde kut of my nose.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 29. So knaw bischopis hem to be … þe more þer souereyns.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., 139. I haue kinges in my kyne, knowene for kene.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 353 b. He would urge … those thinges chiefly, wherewith he knawe theyr myndes to be moste offended.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., V. i. 505. You sirha, that knew me for a foole, a Coward. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., I. i. 76. I will be knowne your Aduocate.
1769. Goldsm., Hist. Rome (1786), I. 263. An enemy whom he knew more powerful than himself.
1809. Med. Jrnl., XXI. 479. It would be an insult to common reason to suppose … that you would encourage prejudices which you knew to exist.
1817. Ld. Ellenborough, in Maule & Selwyn’s Rep., VI. 316. When he knew himself insolvent.
1891. Sir R. Ball, in Contemp. Rev., Sept., 440. The stars were known to be bodies more or less congenerous with our sun.
d. The perfect tenses with acc. and inf. have the sense, To have had perception or experience of something as a contemporary fact.
Here the infin. to is usually omitted after the active voice (I have known them fall), but is retained after the passive (they have been known to fall). Cf. HEAR v. 3.
1703. Earl Orrery, As you Find it, I. i. I have known some of ’em dog-cheap.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 29, ¶ 11. I have sometimes known the Performer … do no more in a Celebrated Song, than the Clerk of a Parish Church.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xv. I never knew a man die of love,… but I have known a twelve-stone man go down to nine stone five under a disappointed passion.
1850. McCosh, Div. Govt., III. ii. (1874), 397. Criminals have been known … to jest even upon the scaffold.
1884. Mrs. H. Ward, Miss Bretherton, vii. 86. I never knew anyone do so much in so short a time.
e. absol. Often parenthetically, esp. in colloquial use, in you know (cf. ‘you see’), we know, do you know.
Grammatically the parenthetic clause is often the chief sentence, and the fact stated its object; but it can often be taken as = as you know to be the fact.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1174. He is my lege man lelly þou knowes.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of Law’s Prol., 50. Chaucer … Hath seyd hem in swich englissh as he kan Of olde tyme as knoweth many a man.
1599. H. Buttes, Dyets drie Dinner, A a iv b. Yet Time (you know) is Edax rerum.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 475, ¶ 5. How can he help that, you know?
1798. Jane Austen, Northang. Abb., vi. (1833), 24. Do you know, I saw the prettiest hat you can imagine.
1885. Anstey, Tinted Venus, i. 7. Ought I to have cried both my eyes out? You haven’t cried out either of yours, you know.
f. with a word or phrase standing in place of a fact referred to.
e.g., to know it, that, what has been said, the fact, all about it, the existence of the book, the goodness of his heart (= that his heart is good). (This last passes into 8). Not if I know it, a colloquial phrase intimating that one will take care not to do the thing referred to.
[c. 1000. Juliana, 443. Ic ðat sylf ʓecneow to late micles.]
1386. Rolls of Parlt., III. 225/1. Nichol Brembre … with stronge honde, as it is ful knowen … was chosen Mair.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of Law’s T., 857. The Romayn Emperour … hath by lettres knowe The slaughtre of cristen folk.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 11721. I haue comynt in this case, knowith hit your-selfe.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 14949 (Trin.). Þese iewes ben, ȝe hit knowen [Cott. Yon Iues ar, wel wat ȝee it].
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxvi. 549. Whan the kyng charlemagn knewe the comyng of reynawd.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 177 b. But that time knew I none of all this gere.
1610. Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, Vives Comm. (1620), 103. This I think is knowne to all.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 639. O happy, if he knew his happy State!
1715. De Foe, Fam. Instruct., I. i. (1841), I. 6. How do we know that he dwells there?… we know it in two ways.
1874. T. Hardy, Far fr. Madding Crowd (1889), 32. After that do you think I could marry you? Not if I know it.
1891. Mrs. Newman, Begun in Jest, I. 47. As soon as Dorothy wished it to be known.
1892. W. S. Gilbert, Mountebanks, I. 24. Ni. I say—don’t lose that. Pie. Not if I know it.
1897. Hinde, Congo Arabs, 147. Oh, we know all about Mohara; we ate him the day before yesterday.
IV. 12. To know how (formerly also simply to know): to understand the way, or be able (to do something): cf. CAN v.1 3.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 174. We have so many clothes in our handes, that we knowe not how to utter them.
1566. W. Adlington, trans. Apuleius’ Golden Ass, IX. xl. (1893), 188. By and by the old woman which knew well to babble, began to tell as followeth.
1594. Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, I. ii. Abandon fruitless fears, Since Carthage knows to entertain distress.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 364. I know how to curse.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 147. Not one … of a thousand among them, knowing how to write.
a. 1763. Shenstone, Elegies, iii. 13. He little knew to ward the secret wound.
1808. J. Barlow, Columb., III. 107. Tell them we know to tread the crimson plain.
1885. Manch. Exam., 11 Nov., 3/2. Told by a lady who knows exactly how to write for children.
1893. Bookman, June, 82/2. Nobody writes moral-allegorical tales now, because nobody knows how.
b. ellipt. in colloq. phr. All one knows, all one can; also advb., to the utmost of one’s ability.
1872. Punch, 27 Jan., 40/2. Both men will do all they know, and a clinking good contest is expected.
1883. D. C. Murray, Hearts, II. xx. 206. He was not accustomed to be badgered in this way, and it cost him all he knew to restrain his anger.
1889. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms (1890), xxiii. 169. A good many men tried all they knew to be prepared and have a show for it.
1889. R. S. S. Baden-Powell, Pigsticking, 173. If they find themselves being pursued … they will shoot round on the instant, and make the running ‘all they know’ back again.
† 13. To make known: a. To disclose, reveal, manifest; refl. to make oneself known; b. to make (a person) acquainted or (a thing) familiar.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1161. Caym sagh his sin was knaud, And wist þat þe erth had scaud. Ibid. (a. 1350), 3838 (Gött.). Iacob … kneu him þar wid may rachel.
a. 1400. Hymn Virgin, iii. in Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, x. (1840), II. 109. Heil reson of al rihtwysnesse, To vche a caityf comfort to knowe.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 6090. For certeyn, they wolde hate me, If ever I knewe hir cruelte.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 2872 (Ashm.). He knew his kniȝtis þat cas.
1422. trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 143. Of falsnes and vntrowth he shal be Proclamyd and knowe.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 110. Whanne this was opened, know, and tolde thorughe the kingges court.
14. In biblical language, used to render Heb. [Hebrew] in various inferential senses: To take notice of, regard, care for; to look after, guard, protect; to regard with approval, approve.
1382. Wyclif, Ps. i. 6. For the Lord hath knowe the weie of the riȝtwise.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. xxxi. 7. Thou hast considred my trouble, thou hast knowne my soule in aduersite.
1611. Bible, Gen. xxxix. 6. And he left all that he had, in Iosephs hand: and he knew not ought he had, saue the bread which he did eate.
1662. South, Serm. (1823), I. 77. To know, in scripture language, is to approve; and so, not to know, is to reject and condemn.
15. Used (chiefly in sense 8) in various colloq. and slang phrases expressing sagacity, cunning, or ‘knowledge of the world,’ as to know what’s what, to know a thing or two, to know the time of day, etc.
c. 1520. Vox Populi, 373, in Hazl., E. P. P., III. 281. I knowe not whates a clocke.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. He knew which way the winde blew.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., I. ii. (Arb.), 17. Mary, nowe I see you know what is what.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 71. I know on which syde my bread is buttred.
1631. T. Powell, Tom All Trades, 171. He knows how many dayes goe to the weeke.
1663. Butler, Hud., I. i. 149. He knew what’s what, and that’s as high As metaphysick wit can fly.
1792. Holcroft, Road to Ruin, II. 37 (Farmer). You know a thing or two!
1817. Scott, Search after Happiness, xviii. She loved a book, and knew a thing or two.
1867. All Year Round, 13 July, 56 (ibid.). The tramp who knows his way about knows what to do.
1882. Sala, Amer. Revis. (1885), 54. The foreigner who does not ‘know the ropes’—that is to say, who is crassly ignorant.
V. With prepositions.
(For other constructions in which the vb. and prep. had their ordinary independent meanings, see the simple senses.)
16. Know about —. To have information about. Often used to express a knowledge of externals, as opposed to real understanding or actual acquaintance.
1854. Kingsley, Alexandria, ii. 50. It is better to know one thing than to know about ten thousand things.
1876. J. P. Norris, Rudim. Theol., I. iv. 70. Knowing God is an infinitely better thing than knowing about God.
† 17. Know for —. To be aware of. Obs. rare–1.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., I. ii. 6. He might haue more diseases than he knew for.
18. Know of —. † a. In various obsolete senses: To be or become assured of, to have or obtain information about or experience of, etc. Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 354. Þe pepull … Haden … wilfulde desyre To knowe of þere comyng and the cause wete. Ibid., 10862. Pantasilia … purpost … The grekes to greue … And of maidyns might make hom to know.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., xix. Certis or thay hethun fare, Thay knaue of mekil care.
b. To be cognizant of (something as existing, an event as having occurred); † to become cognizant of (obs.).
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 192. Therto we be swore, That non bot only thou and we Schal knowen of this privete.
1573. Baret, Alv., To Rdr. Knowing then of no other Dictionarie to helpe vs, but Sir Thomas Eliots Librarie.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iv. 19. Sir Iohn must not know of it.
1680. Boyle, Produc. Chem. Princ., IV. Wks. 1744, I. 407/1 (J.). There is but one mineral body in the world, that we know of, at all heavier than common quicksilver.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), IV. 40. He knew of no case where an agreement, though all written with the party’s own hand, had been held sufficient, unless it had been likewise signed by him.
1857. Trollope, Three Clerks, i. All the English world knows, or knows of, that branch of Civil Service which is popularly called the Weights and Measures.
Mod. I know of him, of course; but I do not know him.
c. Colloq. phrases. Not that I know of, not so far as I know, not to my knowledge. † Not that you know of, an expression of defiance addressed to a person in reference to something he is about to do (obs.).
1742. Richardson, Pamela, III. 310. As Mr. B. offer’d to take his Hand, he put ’em both behind him—Not that you know of, Sir!
1753. Foote, Englishm. in Paris, II. Wks. 1799, I. 49. May I flatter myself that your Ladyship will do me the honour of venturing upon the fatigue of another minuet this morning with me? Buck. Not that you know of, Monsieur.
† 19. Know upon —. To take (judicial) cognizance of. Sc. Obs. Cf. F. connaître de.
1457. Sc. Acts Jas. II. (1814), II. 47/2. The caussis þt þe lordis of þe Sessione sall knaw apone.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., 118. (Form Baron Courts c. 81) The Judge may of law, gar knaw vpon the dead be ane assise.
