Etymology
1. O.E.
cnotta "intertwining of ropes, cords, etc.," from P.Gmc.
*knuttan- (cf. Low Ger.
knütte, Du.
knot, O.H.G.
knoto, Ger.
Knoten, perhaps also O.N.
knutr "knot, knob"). Fig. sense of "difficult problem" was in O.E. (cf.
Gordian knot). Symbolic of the bond of wedlock, c.1225. As an ornament of dress, first attested 1400. Meaning "thickened part or protuberance on tissue of a plant" is from 1398. The nautical unit of measure (1633) is from the practice of attaching knotted string to the log line. The ship's speed can be measured by the number of knots that play out while the sand glass is running.
"The distance between the knots on the log-line should contain 1/120 of a mile, supposing the glass to run exactly half a minute." [Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, "A Voyage to South America" 1760]
The verb meaning "to tie in a knot" is from 1547.
Knot-hole is from 1726.
Knothead "stupid person" is from 1940.
2. From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”).
3. See also Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte; also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur; also Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus.
4. * (unit of speed): From the practice of counting the number of knots in the logline (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every ¹⁄₁₂₀ of a mile. See: German, old spelling '
Knoten', Danish '
knude'.
Verbs referencing "knot"
English
connect, Old English
hnossian, Latin
necto.