# know

Pronunciation: say "NOH" US /noʊ/, UK /nəʊ/

## Verb

1. To have information about something in your mind, to be aware that it is true, or to be informed of or about it.
   - Simple: To have facts or information in your mind and be sure they are true.
   - _I know the shop closes at six._
   - _He knew the road was flooded and drove anyway._
2. To be acquainted or familiar with someone or something, or to have met or encountered them.
   - Simple: To be familiar with a person, place or thing because you have met or seen them before.
   - _I know Lisbon well because I lived there for a year._
   - _Do you know the little bakery on Fifth Street? Their bread is amazing._
3. To use a particular name, title, or description for someone or something; usually in the passive, be known as.
   - Simple: To call someone or something by a certain name or title, mostly in the form be known as.
   - _Locals know the old stone mill as the Castle._
   - _The stretch of bars and casinos downtown is known as the Strip._
4. To widely recognize someone or something because of a particular quality, activity, or achievement; usually in the passive, be known for.
   - Simple: To think of someone or something mainly because of a thing they are famous for, mostly as be known for.
   - _Most travelers know the region for its wine, but its cheese is just as good._
   - _The bakery on Main Street is known for its cinnamon rolls._
5. To have learned something, or have command of it, through study or experience, such as a language, a skill, or a song or piece of music.
   - Simple: To have learned something and be able to use or do it, like a language, game or song.
   - _I know the rules of chess but not the tricks._
   - _Does anyone here know first aid?_
6. To recognize someone or something, or be able to tell what it is or how it differs from others.
   - Simple: To recognize someone or something, or tell it apart from others.
   - _She knows a real pearl when she sees one._
   - _After twenty years away, she wouldn't know her own hometown if she saw it._
7. To experience, or to have lived through.
   - Simple: To have gone through or lived through something.
   - _The village has known floods and fires._
   - _Few people know such kindness as she showed us._
10. Of a database or system, to have something indexed and hold information about it.
   - Simple: To have a record of something, used about a database or search engine.
   - _The map app doesn't know the new road yet._
   - _If the system doesn't know your number, call the desk._
11. In philosophy, to hold a belief that meets a given definition of knowledge, classically a belief that is justified and true.
   - Simple: In philosophy, to hold a belief that counts as knowledge, traditionally one that is true and backed by good reasons.
   - _Philosophers ask whether we know or merely believe._
   - _If you read the time off a clock that stopped exactly twelve hours ago, you are right, but do you actually know what time it is?_

## Noun

8. Knowledge, or the state of being informed, now chiefly in the phrase 'in the know'.
   - Simple: Knowing secret or special information, as in 'people in the know'.
   - _Anyone in the know could have told you._
   - _She was in the know about the merger weeks before._

## Particle

12. In Singapore English, used at the end of a sentence to draw attention to something the listener should bear in mind. *(Singlish)*
   - Simple: In Singapore English, a word at the end of a sentence meaning remember this.
   - _Better bring an umbrella, the rain here comes very suddenly, know._
   - _Eh, the hawker stalls all close early on Sundays, know._

## Verb

9. In biblical and euphemistic use, to have sexual relations with someone. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A polite way of saying to have sex with someone.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–11** — The Proto-Indo-European root *ǵneh₃- ("to know") passed through Proto-Germanic into Old English as cnāwan ("to know, perceive, recognize"), which became Middle English knowen. Relatives across the language family include Latin gnoscō and cognoscō, Ancient Greek gnôsis ("knowledge"), Russian znatʹ and Persian šenâxtan, among many others.
**Meaning 12** — This sense is a shortening of the phrase "you know".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/know (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).