Skip to the word

Added 2 October 2026

knife

/ˈnaɪ̯f/ noun

In Latin: culter First recorded: 1865 Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about knife at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge, attached to a handle. The blade may be pointed for piercing.
He was looking for a knife to chop some steak.
A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing or stabbing but too short to be called a sword; a dagger.
Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as that of a chipper.

verb

To cut with a knife.
To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.
She was repeatedly knifed in the chest.
To cut through as if with a knife.
The boat knifed through the water.

Origin

From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr or Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”), from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel. * The verb is first attested in 1865. The variant knive is first attested in 1733.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word