Knowing

How to spell knowing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce knowing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does knowing mean?

1. verbThe present participle of 'know'; having information, awareness, or understanding of something.
2. adjectiveSuggesting that one has secret or private understanding of something.

Knowing in a sentence

• verb

  Knowing the deadline was tight, she started the report early.

• adjective

  She gave her colleague a knowing smile as the manager repeated the rumour.

• verb

  Knowing the city well, he avoided the motorway during rush hour.

• adjective

  The witness answered with a knowing nod that revealed more than her words.

Where does knowing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the Old English verb cnawan, which meant to recognise, to perceive, or to be acquainted with something. That verb belonged to a wider Germanic family and shares an ancient root with the Latin noscere and the Greek gignoskein, both meaning to come to know, which is why so many learned English words about knowledge carry a similar shape. The troublesome silent k at the front is a genuine fossil: in early English the k was actually pronounced, so a speaker said something close to 'k-now', and the spelling preserved the cluster long after the sound itself fell silent around the seventeenth century. The form 'knowing' is simply the verb plus the -ing suffix, used both as an ordinary present participle and, since at least the 1500s, as an adjective describing a look or manner that hints at secret understanding. Remembering that the k once spoke aloud is the surest way to keep it on the page.

How the word is built

• know (from Old English cnawan: to recognise, perceive)
• -ing (participle/adjective suffix)