different between gnaw vs knaw

English

Etymology

From Middle English gnawen, gna?en, from Old English gnagan, from Proto-Germanic *gnagan?. Cognate with Dutch knagen, German nagen, Norwegian Bokmål gnage, Norwegian Nynorsk gnaga, Swedish gnaga. Probably from Proto-Indo-European *g?n?g?- (“to gnaw, scratch”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: nô, IPA^(key): /n??/
• Rhymes: -??
• (US) enPR: nô, IPA^(key): /n?/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: nä, IPA^(key): /n?/
• Homophone: nor (in non-rhotic accents with the horse-hoarse merger)

Verb

gnaw (third-person singular simple present gnaws, present participle gnawing, simple past gnawed or (dialectal) gnew, past participle gnawed or (archaic) gnawn)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To bite something persistently, especially something tough.
2. (intransitive) To produce excessive anxiety or worry.

3. To corrode; to fret away; to waste.

Derived terms

• begnaw
• gnawer
• gnawable
• ungnawed

Related terms

• nag

Translations

Noun

gnaw (plural gnaws)

1. the act of gnawing

Anagrams

• AgNW, Ngwa, Wang, g'wan, gawn, gwan, wang

Middle Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nau?/

Noun

gnaw

1. Soft mutation of knaw.

Mutation

English

Etymology 1

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Verb

knaw (third-person singular simple present knaws, present participle knawing, simple past and past participle knawed)

1. Archaic spelling of gnaw.

Etymology 2

Verb

knaw (third-person singular simple present knaws, present participle knawing, simple past knawed, past participle knawn)

1. Nonstandard form of know.

Anagrams

• Kwan, kawn, wank

Middle English

Noun

knaw

1. Alternative form of knave

Middle Welsh

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Old Irish cnáim (“bone”), but at any rate ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kn?mis, from Proto-Indo-European *kónh?m (“leg”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ????? (kn?m?, “tibia”) and English ham.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /knau?/

Noun

knaw m (plural kneu or knouein)

1. bone
2. skull

Descendants

• ? Welsh: pencnaw (“end of a bone”)

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “cnaw”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

References