definition of the word know

Middle English, from Old English cnāwan. Cognate with Spanish conocer, French connaître, Latin cognoscere, Greek γνωρίζω ('I know') and γνῶσις ('knowledge'), German kennen, and Persian شناختن (šenāxtæn, 'to know').

• (UK) IPA: /nəʊ/, SAMPA: /n@U/
• (US) IPA: /noʊ/, SAMPA: /noU/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Homophones: no, noh, now (in some dialects or accents, but not in standard English)

to know (third-person singular simple present knows, present participle knowing, simple past knew, past participle known)

to know (third-person singular simple present knows, present participle knowing, simple past and past participle knowed) (dialectal) See Usage notes

1. (intransitive) To be certain or sure about.

   I know that I’m right and you’re wrong.

   He knew something terrible was going to happen.

2. (transitive) To be acquainted or familiar with; to have encountered.

   I know your mother, but I’ve never met your father.

3. (transitive) To have knowledge of; to have memorised information, data, or facts about.

   He knows more about 19th century politics than one would expect.

   She knows where I live.

   Let me do it. I know how it works.

4. (transitive) To understand (a subject).

   She knows chemistry better than anybody else.

5. (transitive, archaic, Biblical) To have sexual relations with.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version)^[1], Genesis 4:1

     And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

6. (intransitive) To be informed about.

   Do you know that Michelle and Jack are getting divorced? — Yes, I know.

7. (transitive) To be aware of (a person's) intentions.

   I won’t lend you any money. You would never pay me back; I know you.

8. (transitive) To experience.

   Their relationship knew ups and downs.

The dialect verb form is inflected in a non-standard way. In addition the different simple past and past, the form knows is used for both the singular and plural of all persons of the present tense: "I knows", "you knows", "he knows", "we knows", "you knows", and "they knows".

• get to know

Definition from Wiktionary Content avaible with GNU Free Documentation License

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