different between knack vs penchant

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

Borrowed from French penchant, present participle of pencher (“to tilt, to lean”), from Middle French, from Old French pengier (“to tilt, be out of line”), from Vulgar Latin *pendic?re, a derivative of Latin pendere (“to hang, to lean”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p?n??n/, [?p?????]
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p?nt???nt/

Noun

penchant (countable and uncountable, plural penchants)

1. Taste, liking, or inclination (for).
   • 2019, Idles, "Never Fight a Man With a Perm", Joy as an Act of Resistance.

   He has a penchant for fine wine.

2. (card games, uncountable) A card game resembling bezique.
3. (card games) In the game of penchant, any queen and jack of different suits held at the same time.

Synonyms

• desire, see also Thesaurus:predilection

Related terms

Translations

French

Noun

penchant m (plural penchants)

1. penchant

Verb

penchant

1. present participle of pencher

Further reading

• “penchant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).