Knowledge Definition
knowledge
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English
Alternative forms
- (obsolete) cnaulage, cnoulech, knauleche, knaulege, knaulach, knaulage, knawlache, knawlage, kneuelich, kneuleche, kneuliche, knoleche, knolege, knoleige, knolych, knouelache, knouelech, knouelich, knoulecche, knoulegge, knouliche, knowlache, knowlage, knowleche, knowledg, knowlege, knowlesche, knowliche, knowlych, knowlech
Etymology
From Middle English knowleche (“knowledge”), of uncertain formation. The first element is ultimately identical with know, but the second is obscure (neither Old Norse -leikr nor Old English -lāċ would have given -leche as found in the earliest Middle English citations). Compare Middle English knowlechen (“to acknowledge”), Old English cnāwelǣċing, cnāwlǣċ (“acknowledgment”), and know. Compare also freeledge.
- The noun originally provided a counterpart to the now-obsolete verb to knowledge (see below), but was very early adapted to be the noun equivalent of know.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA: /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/, SAMPA: /"nQlIdZ/
- (US) IPA: /ˈnɑlɪdʒ/, SAMPA: /"nAlIdZ/
- Rhymes: -ɒlɪdʒ
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Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation US: knowl‧edge UK: know‧ledge
Noun
knowledge (countable and uncountable; plural knowledges)
- (obsolete) Acknowledgement. [14th-16th c.]
- The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc. [from 14th c.]
- His knowledge of Iceland was limited to what he'd seen on the Travel Channel.
- Awareness of a particular fact or situation; a state of having been informed or made aware of something. [from 14th c.]
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
- He had always intended to visit him, though to the last always assuring his wife that he should not go; and till the evening after the visit was paid she had no knowledge of it.
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
- Intellectual understanding; the state of appreciating truth or information. [from 14th c.]
- Knowledge consists in recognizing the difference between good and bad decisions.
- Familiarity or understanding of a particular skill, branch of learning etc. [from 14th c.]
- Does your friend have any knowledge of hieroglyphics, perchance?
- (archaic or law) Sexual intimacy or intercourse (now usually in phrase carnal knowledge). [from 15th c.]
- 1573, George Gascoigne, "The Adventures of Master F.J.", An Anthology of Elizabethan Prose Fiction:
- Every time that he had knowledge of her he would leave, either in the bed, or in her cushion-cloth, or by her looking-glass, or in some place where she must needs find it, a piece of money [...].
- 1573, George Gascoigne, "The Adventures of Master F.J.", An Anthology of Elizabethan Prose Fiction:
- (obsolete) Information or intelligence about something; notice. [15th-18th c.]
- 1580, Edward Hayes, "Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage to Newfoundland", Voyages and Travels Ancient and Modern, ed. Charles W Eliot, Cosimo 2005, p. 280:
- Item, if any ship be in danger [...], every man to bear towards her, answering her with one light for a short time, and so to put it out again; thereby to give knowledge that they have seen her token.
- 1580, Edward Hayes, "Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage to Newfoundland", Voyages and Travels Ancient and Modern, ed. Charles W Eliot, Cosimo 2005, p. 280:
- The total of what is known; all information and products of learning. [from 16th c.]
- His library contained the accumulated knowledge of the Greeks and Romans.
- (obsolete) Notice, awareness. [17th c.]
- 1611, The Bible, Authorized Version, Ruth II.10:
- Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
- 1611, The Bible, Authorized Version, Ruth II.10:
Quotations
- 1996, Jan Jindy Pettman, Worlding Women: A feminist international politics, pages ix-x:
- There are by now many feminisms (Tong, 1989; Humm, 1992). [...] They are in shifting alliance or contest with postmodern critiques, which at times seem to threaten the very category 'women' and its possibilities for a feminist politics. These debates inform this attempt at worlding women—moving beyond white western power centres and their dominant knowledges [...]
Usage notes
- Adjectives often used with “knowledge”: extensive, deep, superficial, theoretical, practical, useful, working, encyclopedic, public, private, scientific, tacit, explicit, general, specialized, special, broad, declarative, procedural, innate, etc.
Derived terms
terms derived from knowledge
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Related terms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Verb
knowledge (third-person singular simple present knowledges, present participle knowledging, simple past and past participle knowledged)
- (obsolete) To confess as true; to acknowledge. [13th-17th c.]
- 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 3:
- Then went oute to hym Jerusalem, and all Jury, and all the region rounde aboute Jordan, and were baptised of hym in Jordan, knoledging their synnes.
- 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 3:
See also
External links
- knowledge in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- knowledge in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Statistics
- Most common English words before 1923: living · view · although · #533: knowledge · hath · table · daughter
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Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); and it can be more or less formal or systematic. In philosophy, the study of knowledge is called epistemology, and the philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as "justified true belief." However no single agreed upon definition of knowledge exists, and there are numerous theories to explain it. The following quote from Bertrand Russell's "Theory of Knowledge" illustrates the difficulty in defining knowledge. "The question how knowledge should be defined is perhaps the most important and difficult of the three with which we shall deal. This may seem surprising: at first sight it might be thought that knowledge might be defined as belief which is in agreement with the facts. The trouble is that no one knows what a belief is, no one knows what a fact is, and no one knows what sort of agreement between them would make a belief true.
Knowledge is what is known; the confident understanding of a subject, potentially with the ability to use it for a specific purpose.
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