Cuthe

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An archaic term meaning known, familiar, or recognized by others in earlier English
2. Describing something that was well known or familiar, a word used in older forms of English
3. Archaic adjective for something known or familiar to people, as used in Middle English writing

Etymology: The surviving English word that preserves this verb is "uncouth," which once meant "unknown" or "unfamiliar." It is built from "un-" and "couth," the past participle of an old verb meaning "to know." Modern "couth," meaning refined or socially graceful, is a back-formation from "uncouth," so the positive sense came later. The verb is Old English "cunnan," meaning "to know," and "cuthe" is one of its past forms, meaning "knew" or "had known well." The same verb gave us "can," which originally meant "to know how to," and "cunning," from its sense of knowledge and skill. Its past tense survives only in fossilised spellings like this one.