different between knack vs kiack

English

Etymology

Use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak (“a sharp blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German, by onomatopoeia. Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næk/
• Audio (UK)

• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

knack (plural knacks)

1. A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. [from 1580]

   Synonyms: skill, facility, dexterity

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 254a.

     The sophist runs for cover to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;
2. A petty contrivance; a toy.

   Synonyms: plaything, knickknack, toy

3. Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity. [from mid 14th c.]

   Synonyms: trick, device

Derived terms

• knackless

Translations

Verb

knack (third-person singular simple present knacks, present participle knacking, simple past and past participle knacked)

1. (obsolete, Britain, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
2. To speak affectedly.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References

English

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

kiack (plural kiacks)

1. Alternative form of kayak

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

kiack (plural kiacks)

1. (Canada) Alosa pseudoharengus, a species of small freshwater fish, also known as the alewife.
   • 2007, "Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)," Fisheries and Aquaculture—Government of Nova Scotia (retrieved 30 Nov. 2011):

     Common names for the alewife are gaspereau, river herring, sawbelly, or kiack.

   • 2010, William Casselman, Nova Scotia Fish Word: Kiack, www.billcasselman.com (retrieved 29 Nov. 2011):

     Finally, I visited a group of kiack fishermen down in Argyle. This was a new fishery to me. The kiack (also called gaspereau and alewife in other areas) is fished with a dip net out of small brooks in the Tusket River area.

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

kiack (plural kiacks)

1. A temple for practitioners of Buddhism within Burma.

References