gecnawan

Old English

Etymology

From ġe- +‎ cnāwan.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jeˈknɑː.wɑn/

Verb

ġecnāwan

to know, perceive, understand, acknowledge, recognize; beknow
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, "Gospel of Saint John", chapter 21, verse 4
  Witodlīce on ǣrne merġen sē Hǣlend stōd on þām strande; ne ġecnēowon þēah ðā leorningcnihtas þæt hit sē Hǣlend wæs.
  Certainly at early morning the Healer (Jesus) stood at the shore; Though the disciples did not recognise that it was the Healer (Jesus).
to be familiar or acquainted with
to make known, declare

Usage notes

Old English used several different words to mean “to know”:

Witan meant “to be aware of”, and was used with facts and pieces of information: Iċ wāt þæt iċ nāt nāwiht (“I know that I know nothing”), Hwā wāt hū fela ōðerra manna sind mē ġelīċe? (“Who knows how many other people are like me?”), Hwanon wāst þū mīnne naman? (“How do you know my name?”), Þū wāst hwæt tō dōnne is (“You know what to do”).
Cunnan meant “to be familiar with”, and was used with people, places, concepts, and skills: Mæġ iċ hine lufian swīðor þonne iċ hine cann? (“Can I love him more than I know him?”), Ne sorge ġē, iċ cann þis sċræf swā æftewearde mīne hand (“Don't worry, I know this cave like the back of my hand”), Ealdenglisċ cunnan þyncþ mē unnytt (“Knowing Old English seems useless to me”). With verbs, it means “to know how”: Þū āna cūðest mē hreddan (“You're the only person who knew how to save me”), Wisson ġit þæt hē singan cann? (“Did you know he can sing?”)
Ġecnāwan and oncnāwan meant “to recognize, identify”, and could be used almost interchangeably with each other: Þā stefne iċ wolde āhwǣr ġecnāwan (“I'd know that voice anywhere”), Ġecnǣwst þū þisne wer? (“Do you know this man?”), Iċ oncnāwe gōd handweorc þonne iċ hit ġesēo (“I know good craftsmanship when I see it”), Be þon oncnāwaþ ealle menn þæt ġē sind mīne frīend (“That's how everyone will know you're my friends”). Though cnāwan is the ancestor of modern know and was probably a synonym, it was many times less common than these two prefixed forms in the Old English period, being attested only a few times in the surviving corpus.
Tōcnāwan meant “to distinguish, discern”: riht and wōh tōcnāwan (“to know right from wrong”).

Conjugation

Conjugation of ġecnāwan (strong class 7)

indicative mood	present tense	past tense
infinitive	ġecnāwan	ġecnāwenne
first person singular	ġecnāwe	ġecnēow
second person singular	ġecnǣwst	ġecnēowe
third person singular	ġecnǣwþ	ġecnēow
plural	ġecnāwaþ	ġecnēowon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	ġecnāwe	ġecnēowe
plural	ġecnāwen	ġecnēowen
imperative
singular	ġecnāw
plural	ġecnāwaþ
participle	present	past
	ġecnāwende	ġecnāwen