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knowledge

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "knowledge", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "knowledge" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "knowledge" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

knowledge is aEnglishnoun. It means: The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc. Pronounced /ˈnɒlɪd͡ʒ/. It ranks #1,172 in English word frequency.

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Key facts for knowledge
PropertyValue
Headwordknowledge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈnɒlɪd͡ʒ/
Letters9
Frequency rank#1,172
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of knowledge in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for knowledge is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnɒlɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,172 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for knowledge, with forms such as "kknowledge", "knnowledge", and "knolwedge". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English knowleche, knaweleche, cnawlece (“knowledge”), from knowen (“to know, recognise”) + -leche. Related to Middle English knowlechen (“to find out, acknowledge”). For more on the Middle English suffix -leche, compare freelage. Compare also O… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is knowledge, spelled K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc.
  2. 2
    Awareness of a particular fact or situation; a state of having been informed or made aware of something.
  3. 3
    Intellectual understanding; the state of appreciating truth or information.
  4. 4
    Familiarity or understanding of a particular skill, branch of learning etc.
  5. 5
    Justified true belief
  6. 6
    Sexual intimacy or intercourse (now usually in phrase carnal knowledge).
  7. 7
    Information or intelligence about something; notice.
  8. 8
    The total of what is known; all information and products of learning.
  9. 9
    Something that can be known; a branch of learning; a piece of information; a science.
  10. 10
    Acknowledgement.
  11. 11
    Notice, awareness.
  12. 12
    The deep familiarity with certain routes and places of interest required by taxicab drivers working in London, England.

Etymology

From Middle English knowleche, knaweleche, cnawlece (“knowledge”), from knowen (“to know, recognise”) + -leche. Related to Middle English knowlechen (“to find out, acknowledge”). For more on the Middle English suffix -leche, compare freelage. Compare also Old English cnāwelǣċ, cnāwelǣċing (“acknowledging, acknowledgement”).

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: kknowledge,knnowledge,knolwedge,knoweldge,knowldege,knowleddge,knowledeg,knowledgge,knowlegde,knowlledge,knowwledge,knwoledge,konwledge,nkowledge

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for knowledge

Misspelling Variants of "knowledge"

kknowledge10knnowledge10knolwedge9knoweldge9knowldege9knowleddge10knowledeg9knowledgge10
Misspelling Variants of "knowledge"

Frequency rank: #1,172 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "knowledge"?
"knowledge" is spelled K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈnɒlɪd͡ʒ/.
What does "knowledge" mean?
As a noun, "knowledge" means: The fact of knowing about something; general understanding or familiarity with a subject, place, situation etc.
What are common misspellings of "knowledge"?
Common misspellings include "kknowledge", "knnowledge", "knolwedge", "knoweldge", "knowldege". The correct spelling is "knowledge".
How do you pronounce "knowledge"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "knowledge" is /ˈnɒlɪd͡ʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "knowledge"?
From Middle English knowleche, knaweleche, cnawlece (“knowledge”), from knowen (“to know, recognise”) + -leche. Related to Middle English knowlechen (“to find out, acknowledge”). For more on the Middle English suffix -leche, compare freelage. Comp... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter K in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.