know

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To have information or facts in your mind.

   I know that the meeting starts at noon.

2. 2
   verb

   To be familiar with a person, place, or thing.

   They do not know this composer despite having studied the period.

3. 3
   verb

   To understand how to do something.

   I want to know how to knit.

4. 4
   verb

   To have experienced a feeling or situation yourself.

   I know the feeling!

Common collocations

• know the answer Verb + noun

From Middle English knowen, from Old English cnāwan (“to know, perceive, recognise”), from Proto-West Germanic *knāan, from Proto-Germanic *knēaną (“to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Cognates from Indo-European: Latin gnoscō, Latin cognoscō (Spanish conocer, French connaître, Romanian cunoaște, Italian conoscere, Portuguese conhecer), Ancient Greek γνωρίζω (gnōrízō, “to know”) and γνῶσις (gnôsis, “knowledge”), Albanian njoh (“to know, recognise”), Russian знать (znatʹ, “to know”), Lithuanian žinoti (“to know”), and Persian شناختن (šenâxtan, “to know”). from Proto-Germani…

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