Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The state or fact of knowing.
  • noun Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study.
  • noun The sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned.
  • noun Archaic Carnal knowledge.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To acknowledge; confess; avow.
  • To confess.
  • noun The state of being or of having become aware of fact or truth; intellectual recognition of or acquaintance with fact or truth; the condition of knowing.
  • noun A perception, judgment, or idea which is in accord with fact or truth; that which is known.
  • noun Acquaintance with things ascertained or ascertainable; acquired information; learning.
  • noun Practical understanding; familiarity gained by actual experience; acquaintance with any fact or person: as, a knowledge of seamanship; I have no knowledge of the man.
  • noun Specific information; notification; advertisement.
  • noun Cognizance; notice; recognition.
  • noun Acknowledgment.
  • noun Synonyms Prudence, Discretion, etc. (see wisdom); comprehension, discernment.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To acknowledge.
  • noun The act or state of knowing; clear perception of fact, truth, or duty; certain apprehension; familiar cognizance; cognition.
  • noun That which is or may be known; the object of an act of knowing; a cognition; -- chiefly used in the plural.
  • noun That which is gained and preserved by knowing; instruction; acquaintance; enlightenment; learning; scholarship; erudition.
  • noun That familiarity which is gained by actual experience; practical skill.
  • noun Scope of information; cognizance; notice.
  • noun Sexual intercourse; -- usually preceded by carnal; same as carnal knowledge.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English knoulech : knouen, to know; see know + -leche, n. suff.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English knowleche ("knowledge"), of uncertain formation. The first element is ultimately identical with know, but the second is obscure (neither Old Norse -leikr nor Old English -lāċ would have given -leche as found in the earliest Middle English citations). Compare Middle English knowlechen ("to acknowledge"), Old English cnāwelǣċing, cnāwlǣċ ("acknowledgment"), and know. Compare also freeledge.

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Examples

  • That is why Anscombe calls practical knowledge ˜knowledge without observation,™ meaning to exclude not only observation in the narrow sense but knowledge by inference (Anscombe 1963, p. 50).

    Intention Setiya, Kieran 2009

  • “The best grounds for accepting contextualism concerning knowledge attributions come from how knowledge-attributing (and knowledge-denying) sentences are used in ordinary, non-philosophical talk: What ordinary speakers will count as ˜knowledge™ in some non-philosophical contexts they will deny is such in others”

    Epistemic Contextualism Rysiew, Patrick 2007

  • This proposal that the concept of knowledge may have changed over time so that what we now call ˜knowledge™ may sometimes perform a different function to the one that our original concept of knowledge was supposed to track is clearly of central importance to debates about the value of knowledge, as Craig's account of objectification indicates.

    The Value of Knowledge Pritchard, Duncan 2007

  • According to this, Harpo does not acquire any new factual knowledge, only ˜knowledge how™, in the form of the ability to respond directly to sounds, which he could not do before.

    Dualism Robinson, Howard 2007

  • Brahmans, that of the Aupanishadas, which has laid down for its first doctrine that _works are for the sake of understanding_, that the practice of ritual is of value only as a help to the mystic knowledge of the All. But here they have not halted; they have gone a further step, and declared that _knowledge once attained, works become needless_.

    Hindu Gods And Heroes Studies in the History of the Religion of India Lionel D. Barnett

  • Besides when the statute speaks of "knowledge," aside from the expression "wilfully" it means _knowledge_ as a _fact_ -- not any _forced presumption of knowledge_ against the clear facts of the case.

    An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting Anonymous

  • And the Master's answer would come in that clear, quiet voice of His, "yes, tarry: you have knowledge enough, but _knowledge is not enough_, there must be power."

    Quiet Talks on Power S.D. Gordon

  • _For a knowledge of liberal sciences, but a controlled and exact knowledge_, forms men who will love the truth ....

    Saint Augustin Louis Bertrand 1903

  • That is the point that the student ought to grasp; this knowledge of God, not the belief in Him, not the faith in Him, not only vague idea concerning Him, but the _knowledge_ of Him, is possible to man.

    London Lectures of 1907 Annie Wood Besant 1890

  • _Sound knowledge_, a _sound head_, _strong faith_, and _great grace_ -- all these combined -- may indeed preserve one whom the necessity of his position may lead into un-Catholic schools; but no one will deny that this anti-Catholic literature must exercise a most baneful influence over all those who, without sufficient preparation from nature or grace, plunge into it, in the pursuit of amusement or knowledge.

    Public School Education Michael M��ller 1862

  • In his 1959 book, “Landmarks of Tomorrow,” he coined the term “knowledge work,” and argued that autonomy would be the central feature of the new corporate world.

    The Rise and Fall of Getting Things Done Condé Nast 2020

  • In a race to create and share resources to weather the pandemic's challenges, communities have ushered in a golden age of a little-known economic concept: the knowledge commons. Popularized by political economist Elinor Ostrom and researcher Charlotte Hess, the term refers to an accessible repository of knowledge, usually focused on specific topics, that is collectively owned and governed by a community for mutual gain.

    The Coronavirus Is Democratizing Knowledge Condé Nast 2020

Comments

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  • We are drowning in information and starving for knowledge. --Rutherford D. Roger

    April 22, 2007

  • The True Knowledge by Oscar Wilde

    Thou knowest all; I seek in vain

    What lands to till or sow with seed -

    The land is black with briar and weed,

    Nor cares for falling tears or rain.

    Thou knowest all; I sit and wait

    With blinded eyes and hands that fail,

    Till the last lifting of the veil

    And the first opening of the gate.

    Thou knowest all; I cannot see.

    I trust I shall not live in vain,

    I know that we shall meet again

    In some divine eternity.

    July 2, 2009

  • knowledge, en español es Conocimiento

    February 14, 2022