Etymology
1. O.E. 1st & 3rd pers. sing. pres. indic. of
cunnan "know, have power to, be able," from P.Gmc.
*kunnan "to be mentally able, to have learned," from PIE base
*gen-, *gno- (cf. L., Gk.
gno-, O.Pers.
xšnasatiy "he shall know," O.C.S.
znati "to know," O.Ir.
gnath "known"). An O.E. preterite-present verb, its original p.p.,
couth, survives only in its negation (see uncouth).
Cannot is attested from c.1400;
can't first recorded 1706 (O.E. expressed the notion by
ne cunnan).
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-
4. Proto-Indo-European *-né-
5. Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥néh₃ti
6. Proto-Germanic *kunnaną
7. Proto-West Germanic *kunnan
8. Old English cunnan
9. Middle English can
10. English can
11. From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (“to be able, know how”), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence also know). Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning. See: Proto-Germanic '
*kunnaną'.
Verbs referencing "can"
Tok Pisin ken, Norwegian, nynorsk
kunna, Bavarian kenna, German, Pennsylvania
kenne, Bengali, Sadhu bhasha
জানা, Low Saxon könen, Luxembourgish
kënnen, Alemannic German
chöne.