Cnawen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic past participle of the verb know, meaning recognized, understood, or familiar to someone
2. Old English form of the past participle of know, describing something that has been learned or recognized
3. A obsolete participle of know, used to describe what has become known or acknowledged by others

Etymology: "Cnawen" is a form of the Old English verb "cnāwan," meaning "to know" or "to recognize." It is the past participle, the form used with "have" or "be" in phrases like "have cnawen," which by the later Middle English period had become "known." The verb itself is an ancestor of modern "know," and its initial "c" was once pronounced like a hard "k," which is why "kn" spellings in English still trace back to Old English "cn."

Synonyms: known

Antonyms: unknown