knot

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See also: knöt

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has articles on:
Wikipedia
A knot.
A mathematical knot.

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); (cognate with Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte); compare also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur). Probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”), compare Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of node.

Noun[edit]

knot (plural knots)

  1. A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.
    Climbers must make sure that all knots are both secure and of types that will not weaken the rope.
  2. (of hair, etc) A tangled clump.
    The nurse was brushing knots from the protesting child's hair.
  3. A maze-like pattern.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 4”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
      Flowers worthy of paradise, which, not nice art / In beds and curious knots, but nature boon / Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain.
  4. (mathematics) A non-self-intersecting closed curve in (e.g., three-dimensional) space that is an abstraction of a knot (in sense 1 above).
    A knot can be defined as a non-self-intersecting broken line whose endpoints coincide: when such a knot is constrained to lie in a plane, then it is simply a polygon.
        A knot in its original sense can be modeled as a mathematical knot (or link) as follows: if the knot is made with a single piece of rope, then abstract the shape of that rope and then extend the working end to merge it with the standing end, yielding a mathematical knot. If the knot is attached to a metal ring, then that metal ring can be modeled as a trivial knot and the pair of knots become a link. If more than one mathematical knot (or link) can be thus obtained, then the simplest one (avoiding detours) is probably the one which one would want.
  5. A difficult situation.
    I got into a knot when I inadvertently insulted a policeman.
    • (Can we date this quote by South and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      A man shall be perplexed with knots, and problems of business, and contrary affairs.
  6. The whorl left in lumber by the base of a branch growing out of the tree's trunk.
    When preparing to tell stories at a campfire, I like to set aside a pile of pine logs with lots of knots, since they burn brighter and make dramatic pops and cracks.
  7. Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury.
    Jeremy had a knot on his head where he had bumped it on the bedframe.
  8. A protuberant joint in a plant.
  9. Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
  10. the swelling of the bulbus glandis in members of the dog family, Canidae
  11. The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
    the knot of the tale
  12. (engineering) A node.
  13. A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
  14. A group of people or things.
  15. A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
  16. (nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour. (From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every 1⁄120 of a mile.)
    Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots.
  17. (nautical) A nautical mile
  18. (slang) The bulbus glandis
  19. (fandom slang) In omegaverse fiction, a bulbus glandis-like structure on the penis of a male alpha, which ties him to an omega during intercourse.
    • 2014, Mark Shrayber, "'Knotting' Is the Weird Fanfic Sex Trend That Cannot Be Unseen", Jezebel, 18 July 2014:
      Since the knot won't release until the alpha has finished and can't be controlled by either party, the sex has to go on until it's done.
    • 2017, Taylor Boulware, "Fascination/Frustration: Slash Fandom, Genre, and Queer Uptake", dissertation submitted to the University of Washington, page 155:
      The pair cannot separate until the knot has subsided – anywhere from twenty minutes to hours, depending on the fic.
    • 2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 89:
      When John bites down on Sherlock's neck as his knot locks them together, the act which would otherwise be a tool for domination only reinforces the existing emotional bonds they have for each other.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:knot.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

knot (third-person singular simple present knots, present participle knotting, simple past and past participle knotted)

  1. (transitive) To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
    We knotted the ends of the rope to keep it from unravelling.
  2. (transitive) To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.
    She knotted her brow in concentration while attempting to unravel the tangled strands.
  3. To unite closely; to knit together.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
  4. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
  5. (intransitive) To form knots.
  6. (intransitive) To knit knots for a fringe.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Supposed to be derived from the name of King Canute, with whom the bird was a favourite article of food. See the specific epithet canutus.

Noun[edit]

knot (plural knots or knot)

  1. One of a variety of shore birds; the red-breasted sandpiper (variously Calidris canutus or Tringa canutus).
    • c.1610, Ben Jonson, The Alchemist
      My foot-boy shall eat pheasants, calvered salmons, / Knots, godwits, lampreys: I myself will have / The beards of barbels, served instead of salads […]
Translations[edit]

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Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

knot m

  1. A candle wick

Declension[edit]

Declension
singular plural
nominative knot knoty
genitive knotu knotů
dative knotu knotům
accusative knot knoty
vocative knote knoty
locative knotu knotech
instrumental knotem knoty

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Dutch cnudde, Old Dutch *knotto, from Proto-Germanic *knuttan-, *knuttô.

Related to knod, English knot, West Frisian knotte, Middle High German Knotze, German Knoten, Danish knude, Norwegian knute, Swedish knut, etc.

Noun[edit]

knot f or m (plural knotten, diminutive knotje n)

  1. A knot, bun (of hair), skein
  2. The top or crest (with messy branches) of certain woody plants, notably willows
  3. A flax seed box
  4. (dialect) A marble to play with
  5. A prank, joke
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From the cognate English knot, possibly influenced by Vulgar Latin canutus (“grey-headed", "grizzled”)

Noun[edit]

knot f or m (plural knotten, diminutive knotje n)

  1. The bird species Calidris canutus (syn. Tringa canutis)
Synonyms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

knot

  1. Alternative form of knotte

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

knot m inan

  1. A wick (as of a candle)

Declension[edit]

declension of knot
singular plural
nominative knot knoty
genitive knota knotów
dative knotowi knotom
accusative knot knoty
instrumental knotem knotami
locative knocie knotach
vocative knocie knoty
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