Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/204

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OHG. chliuwelîn, dimin. of chliuwa, chliwa, f., ‘ball, clew’; AS. cleówe, clŷwe, n., MidE. cleewe, E. clew; also AS. cleówen, clŷwen, m. like MidG. klûwen, Du. kluwen, ‘skein.’ OHG. also kliwi, kliuwi, n., MidHG. kliuwe, n., ‘clew.’ A richly developed nominal stem peculiar to West Teut.; the Goth. form is probably *kliwi (kliujis), n. or *kliujô, n.; the root klū̆, by gradation klē̆u, appears also perhaps in Klaue (Goth. *klêwa), which in that case was so called from its contracting; comp. Lat. gluere, ‘to contract,’ glûma, ‘husk,’ also Sans. glâus, ‘bale,’ hence Aryan root glu. Lat. glŏbus and glŏmus are not connected with this word.

Knauf, m., ‘button, pommel,’ from MidHG. knouf, m., ‘pommel (of a sword), pinnacle,’ also a dimin. knoufel, knöufel, m., OHG. *chnouf not recorded; Goth. *knaups is also indicated by Du. knoop, m., ‘button, knob.’ A Goth. graded form *knupps may likewise be inferred from the cognates discussed under Knopf, which see.

Knauser, m., ‘niggard,’ ModHG. only, probably from MidHG. knûȥ, ‘impudent, daring, haughty (towards the poor).’

Knebel, m., ‘branch, peg, moustache, knuckle,’ from MidHG. knębel, m., OHG. knębil, ‘crossbeam, girder, crossbar, cord, fetter, knuckle’; Du. knevel, m., ‘packing stick’; Scand. knefill, m., ‘stake, stick’; Goth. *knabils is wanting. Considering the relation of Goth. *nabala, m., ‘navel,’ to Gr. ὀμφαλός, we may assume for Goth. *knabils, a root gombh (gonbh) in the non-Teut. languages (comp. γόμφος, ‘plug, nail, wedge’; this word, however, is usually connected with the cognates of ModHG. Kamm). — It is still doubtful whether Knebel in Knebelbart ‘(twisted) moustache,’ first recorded in ModHG. and borrowed from LG. and Du., is of a different origin, i.e. connected with AS. cęnep, OFris. kenep, OIc. kanpr (Goth. *kanipa-), ‘moustache,’ MidDu. canefbeen, ‘cheek-bone.’

Knecht, m., ‘servant,’ from MidHG. knëht, OHG. chnëht, m., ‘boy, youth, fellow, man, squire,’ often also ‘hero’; comp. AS. cniht, m., ‘boy, youth, man capable of bearing arms, hero,’ E. knight; probably a West Teut. word, unknown to Goth. and Scand. (Dan. knegt and Swed. knekt are borrowed). The same variety of meanings in West Teut. words is found in Knabe and Knappe (comp. also AS. mago, ‘son, boy, man, champion,’ see too Kerl). However

probable its close connection with Knabe and Knappe may be, yet it is not possible to define it strictly. Kneckt is more probably allied to the root ken, from Aryan gen (Lat. genus, γένος, Lat. gi-gn-o, γίγνομας), than Knabe, because a suffix -ëht exists in Teut.

kneifen, vb., ‘to nip,’ ModHG. only, a Phonetic rendering of LG. knîpen, adopted by the written language. Comp. kneipen.

Kneipe, f., ‘pincers, gripes,’ ModHG. only, of obscure origin; its cognate relation to kneipen can only be assumed, since an older connecting link between it and Kneipe, ‘tavern,’ is wanting; orig. Kneipe was a low tavern. Is it related to Du. knijp, f., ‘narrowness, embarrassment’? or rather Du. knijp, m., ‘bird-snare, brothel’?

kneipen, vb. ‘to pinch,’ early ModHG., orig. LG. knîpen (see also kneifen); Du. knijpen, ‘to nip, twitch’; probably not allied to AS. hnîpan, hnipian, ‘to bow,’ but to a root hnîp, ‘to nip,’ not recorded in OTeut., from which also MidE. nipen, E. to nip, are derived; kn initially may be explained from *gahnîpan. The pre-Teut. root knîb appears in Lith. knìbti, ‘to pick, pluck,’ knèbti, ‘to nip.’ If the E. word is unconnected with Du. knijpen on account of the initial sound, we might assume a root knîb, gnîb (Lith. gnýbti, ‘to nip,’ gnýbis, ‘nip’), though this too is not recorded in OTeut.

kneten, vb., ‘to knead,’ from the equiv. MidHG. knëten, OHG. chnëtan; comp. MidLG. and Du. kneden, ‘to knead,’ AS. cnëdan, MidE. cneden, E. to knead; a Goth. *knidan, or rather *knudan (comp. treten), ‘to knead,’ may be assumed; Scand. has only a wk. knoða, pointing to Goth. *knudan. Since HG. t, LG., E., and Goth. d may have originated in t owing to earlier positions of the accents (comp. Vater, AS. fœder, with Lat. pater, Gr. πατήρ), gnet may be regarded as the pre-Teut. root. Comp. OSlov. gnetą, gmesti, ‘to crush, knead.’

knicken, vb., ‘to crack,’ ModHG. only; from LG. knikken, ‘to burst, split, crack’; E. (dial.) to knick, ‘to crack.’

Knie, n., ‘knee,’ from MidHG. knie, kniu (gen. knies, kniewes), OHG. chniu, chneo (gen. chnëwes, chniwes), n., ‘knee’; comp. Du. knie, f., AS. cneó (gen. cneowes), n., MidE. cnee, E. knee; Goth. kniu (gen. kniwis), n., ‘knee’; a common O. and ModTeut. word with the prim. meaning ‘knee,’ which also belongs to the allied Aryan words; genu-, gonu-, gnu- are the Aryan