knave

English

/neɪv/

noun
Definitions
  • (archaic) A boy; especially, a boy servant.
  • (archaic) Any male servant; a menial.
  • A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person.
  • (cards) A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or soldier; a jack.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English knave (servant, boy) inherited from Old English cnafa (boy, child, youth, servant) inherited from Proto-Germanic *knabô (youth, boy) derived from Proto-Indo-European *gnebʰ- (tighten, press), *gen- (pinch, squeeze, ball up, kink, ball, bend, press together, clench, concentrate).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*gen-

Gloss

pinch, squeeze, ball up, kink, ball, bend, press together, clench, concentrate

Concept
Semantic Field

Sense perception

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

玉

Emoji
🤌

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms