knout
/naʊt/noun, verb
knout is spelled K-N-O-U-T: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 76 million words in written English, the 275,970th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, knout means “A leather scourge (multi-tail whip), in the severe version known as 'great knout' with metal weights on each tongue, notoriously used in imperial…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of knout is knouts.
How many letters and syllables are in knout?
| Letters | 5: K-N-O-U-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 76 million words; the 275,970th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is knout?
Knout appears about once in every 76 million words in written English, the 275,970th 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 knout?
- /naʊt/
- Canada [nʌʊt]
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-knout.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of knout
- knouts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- knouting participle, present
- knouted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does knout mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A leather scourge (multi-tail whip), in the severe version known as 'great knout' with metal weights on each tongue, notoriously used in imperial Russia.
verb
- 1
To flog or beat with a knout.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Knout in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense kind of whip:
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 knout come from?
Via French knout from Russian кнут (knut), from Old East Slavic кнутъ (knutŭ), from Old Norse knútr (“knot in a cord”). Doublet of knot, node, and nodus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).