knit
/nɪt/verb, noun
knit is spelled K-N-I-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, knit means “To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in knit?
| Letters | 4: K-N-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.6 times per million words; the 11,870th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is knit?
Knit appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce knit?
- US /nɪt/
Knit has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-knit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with knit
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: gnit, nit (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with knit?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as knit from its last stressed vowel (/ɪt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: tink.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of knit
- knits present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- knitting participle, present
- knitted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does knit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine.
to knit a stocking
- 2
To create a stitch by pulling the working yarn through an existing stitch from back to front.
Stitches that are knitted look like little V’s when seen from the front.
- 3
To join closely and firmly together.
The fight for survival knitted the men closely together.
- 4
To become closely and firmly joined; become compacted.
- 5
To grow together.
All those seedlings knitted into a kaleidoscopic border.
- 6
To combine from various elements.
The witness knitted together his testimony from contradictory pieces of hearsay.
- 7
To heal following a fracture.
I’ll go skiing again after my bones knit.
- 8
To form into a knot, or into knots; to tie together, as cord; to fasten by tying.
noun
- 1
A knitted garment.
- 2
A session of knitting.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Knit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tricoter , tricoter à l’endroit , souder, unir , construire, élaborer |
| German | stricken |
| Portuguese | tricotar, fazer ponto , soldar , construir, elaborar |
| Spanish | hacer punto, tricotar, tejer , construir, elaborar , soldarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does knit come from?
Inherited from Middle English knytten, from Old English cnyttan, from Proto-West Germanic *knuttijan, from Proto-Germanic *knuttijaną, from *knuttô + *-janą.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).