英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

kneecap (n.)[kneecap 词源字典]: 1650s, "a covering or protection for the knee," from knee (n.) + cap (n.). Meaning "bone in front of the knee joint" is from 1869; the verb in the underworld sense of "to shoot (someone) in the knee" as punishment is attested by 1975. Related: Kneecapped.[kneecap etymology, kneecap origin, 英语词源]
kneel (v.): Old English cneowlian, from cneow (see knee (n.)). Similar formation in Middle Low German knelen, Middle Dutch cnielen, Dutch knielen Gothic knussjan. Past tense knelt is a modern formation (19c.) on analogy of feel/felt, etc. Related: Kneeling.
knell (n.): Old English cnyll "sound made by a bell when struck or rung slowly," perhaps of imitative origin. The Welsh cnull "death-bell" appears to be a borrowing from English. For vowel evolution, see bury.
knell (v.): Old English cnyllan "to toll a bell; strike, knock," cognate with Middle High German erknellen "to resound," Old Norse knylla "to beat, thrash;" probably imitative. Related: Knelled; knelling.
Knesset: Israeli parliament, 1949, from Mishnaic Hebrew keneseth "gathering, assembly," from stem of Hebrew kanas "he gathered, assembled, collected."
knew: Old English cneow, past tense of know (v.).
knick-knack (n.): also knickknack, 1570s, reduplication of knack "stratagem, trick."
Knickerbocker: "descendant of Dutch settlers of New York," 1831, from Diedrich Knickerbocker, the name under which Washington Irving published his popular "History of New York" (1809). The pen-name was borrowed from Irving's friend Herman Knickerbocker, and literally means "toy marble-baker."
knickers (n.): "short, loose-fitting undergarment," now usually for women but not originally so, 1866, shortening of knickerbockers (1859), said to be so called for their resemblance to the trousers of old-time Dutchmen in Cruikshank's illustrations for Washington Irving's "History of New York" (see knickerbocker).
knife (n.): late Old English cnif, probably from Old Norse knifr, from Proto-Germanic *knibaz (cognates: Middle Low German knif, Middle Dutch cnijf, German kneif), of uncertain origin. To further confuse the etymology, there also are forms in -p-, such as Dutch knijp, German kneip. French canif "penknife" (mid-15c.) is borrowed from Middle English or Norse.
knife (v.): 1865, from knife (n.). Related: Knifed; knifing.
knight (n.): Old English cniht "boy, youth; servant, attendant," common West Germanic (cognates: Old Frisian kniucht, Dutch knecht, Middle High German kneht "boy, youth, lad," German Knecht "servant, bondman, vassal"), of unknown origin. The plural in Middle English sometimes was knighten. Meaning "military follower of a king or other superior" is from c. 1100. Began to be used in a specific military sense in Hundred Years War, and gradually rose in importance until it became a rank in the nobility 16c. The chess piece so called from mid-15c. Knight in shining armor in figurative sense is from 1917, from the man who rescues the damsel in distress in romantic dramas (perhaps especially "Lohengrin"). Knights of Columbus, society of Catholic men, founded 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.; Knights of Labor, trade union association, founded in Philadelphia, 1869; Knights of Pythias, secret order, founded in Washington, 1864.
knight (v.): "to make a knight of (someone)," early 13c., from knight (n.). Related: Knighted; knighting.
knighthood (n.): Old English cnihthad "the period between childhood and manhood;" see knight (n.) + -hood. Sense of "rank or dignity of a knight" is from c. 1300, and probably is an independent formation.
knightly (adj.): Old English cnihtlic; see knight (n.) + -ly (1).
knish (n.): 1930, from Yiddish, from Russian knysh, a kind of cake.
knit (v.): Old English cnyttan "to tie with a knot, bind, fasten," related to Old Norse knytja "bind together," Middle Low German knütten "to tie, knot," Old English cnotta "a knot," from Proto-Germanic *knuttjan, from stem *knutt-. Of brows, late 14c. Meaning "to do knitting" (especially plain stitch) is from 1520s. Related: Knitted; knitting.
knitter (n.): mid-15c., agent noun from knit (v.).
knitting (n.): "knitted work," 1848, from present participle of knit (v.). Knitting-needle is from 1590s.
knob (n.): late 14c., knobe, probably from a Scandinavian or German source (compare Middle Low German knobbe "knob," Middle Dutch cnoppe, Dutch knop, Old Frisian knopp, knapp, Old High German knopf, German Knopf "button," Old Norse knyfill "short horn"). Meaning "knoll, isolated round hill" is first recorded 1640s, especially in U.S.