Etymology

knock

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Today it means: An abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood. Full definition →

Middle English knokken ← Old English cnocian ← Proto-West Germanic *knokōn
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knock · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic*knukô
  2. Proto-Germanic*knukōną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*knokōn
  4. Old Englishcnocian
  5. Middle Englishknokken
  6. English todayknock

From Middle English knokken, from Old English cnocian, ġecnocian, ġecnucian, cnucian (“to knock, pound on, beat”), from Proto-West Germanic *knokōn, from Proto-Germanic *knukōną (“to knock”), a suffixed form of *knu-, *knew- (“to pound on, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnew-, *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up, concentrate”). The English word is cognate with Middle High German knochen (“to hit”), Old English cnuian, cnuwian (“to pound, knock”), Old Norse knoka (compare Danish knuge (“to squeeze”), Swedish knocka (“to hug”)). More at knuckle.

Knock · proper noun2

  1. Scottish Gaelic · derived fromcnoc
  2. Irish · derived fromcnoc
  3. English todayKnock

(Ireland, Scotland, Cumbria) from Irish cnoc and Scottish Gaelic cnoc

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*gnew- all →

gnocchi

Scottish Gaeliccnoc all →

Knox

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.