An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Knoten
Knoten, m., ‘knot,’ from MidHG. knote, knode, m., ‘natural knot (on the body and plants), artificial knot in a thread, noose’; OHG. chnodo, chnoto, m. (the OHG. and MidHG. doublets with t and d appear in Knote and Knödel even as late as ModHG.). Allied to AS. cnotta, m., E. knot, with differently related dentals; comp. OIc. ú-knytter, ‘dirty tricks, and MidHG. knotze, f., ‘protuberance’; E. to knit, AS. cnyttan, LG. (Voss) knütte, f., ‘knitting-needles,’ &c. OIc. knútr, m., ‘knot,’ knúta, f., ‘dice’; they are related to AS. knotta, like Goth. *knaupa- to *knuppa- (comp. Knauf and Knopf), and just as a form with a in the stem (AS. cnœpp) is connected with these words, so is OIc. knǫttr (Goth. *knattus), m., ‘ball,’ related to the cognates of Knoten. No indubitably allied term can be adduced from the other Aryan languages. Comp. also Knüttel.