# knife

> English word · Noun · IPA /naɪf/ · frequency rank #3,567

## Definitions
1. A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge, attached to a handle. The blade may be pointed for piercing.
2. A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing or stabbing but too short to be called a sword; a dagger.
3. Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as that of a chipper.

## Etymology
From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”) from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel.
The verb knife is attested since the 1860s; the variant knive is attested since 1733.
Cognates
Cognate with Yola kunnife (“knife”), North Frisian knif (“knife”), Dutch knijf (“long pointy knife, poniard”), German Knifte (“rifle; thick slicebread”), German Low German Knief (“knife”), Luxembourgish Knäip (“paring knife”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk kniv (“knife”), Faroese knívur (“knife”), Icelandic hnífur, knífur (“knife”), Swedish knif, kniv (“knife”).

## Easily confused with
- **knit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knife-vs-knit)
- **knits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knife-vs-knits)
- **knives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knife-vs-knives)
- **knee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knee-vs-knife)
- **kite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kite-vs-knife)
- **Kaine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kaine-vs-knife)

## Common misspellings (7)
`kinfe`, `kknife`, `knfie`, `knief`, `kniffe`, `knnife`, `nkife`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/knife