Middle English Dictionary Entry

knotte n.
Quotations: Show all Hide all

Entry Info

Forms knotte n. Also knot(e, cnotte, cnot(e, cnoth, notte. Pl. knottes, etc. & (early S) knotten, cnotten.
Etymology OE cnotta & (chiefly in sense 9.) ON; cp. OI knöttr.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1.
(a) A knot tied in a rope, thread, spider web, etc., for binding or fastening; double ~, ?a sort of pulley; ridinge (renninge, slippinge) ~, a slip noose; (b) a knot tied in a whip, garment, etc., for the purpose of inflicting pain; (c) an ornamental knot; love ~, q.v.; (d) a knot as an aid to the memory; (e) a pattern of interlacing lines; (f) a coil of a serpent.
Show 36 Quotations
2.
(a) An intellectual knot to be untied, a theological or philosophical problem; a riddle, mystery; (b) the point of a story or argument; the main point of a treaty; the conclusion of a statement, book, story, song, etc. [cp. the knot in the end of a thread]; (c) the result of a battle, outcome.
Show 15 Quotations
3.
(a) A fastener, tie; bond, fetter; also fig.; (b) ?a clasp on a book [cp. knop(pe n. (1), sense 1. (c)]; (c) a bond between persons; an agreement; ~ of wedlok (mariage).
Show 21 Quotations
4.
(a) An ornamental knob on armor, a bed, garment, etc.; a button; ?also, a tassel, a tuft; (b) an embossed ornament of wood or stone on a wall, pillar, ceiling, etc.; also fig.; ~ in the rof, ?an embossed ornament on or under a roof; (c) a knob on the end of a surgical instrument; (d) a rounded bulge in the shaft of a surgical instrument.
Show 21 Quotations
5.
(a) A protuberance on a tree or root; knob, gnarl; (b) a place on a tree or plant from which leaves or branches spring; a bud, an eye, a node; also, the knot left in a tree where a branch has been; (c) a small hollow in the scapula.
Show 14 Quotations
6.
(a) A joint in the body, a finger joint, etc.; a joint or node in the stem of a plant; in proverb: seken the ~ in the rishe, to search for something which does not exist, make difficulties where there are none; ~ wort, knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare); (b) a swollen joint; knottes of the fet, gout; (c) the space or section between two joints; one of the cartilaginous sections of the windpipe; a section of a scorpion's tail; section of a reed between nodes; ?a vertebra.
Show 21 Quotations
7.
(a) A small chunk of wood, wax, flesh, etc.; a lump; ~ of fir, a ball of fire; (b) a lump in the flesh or a fleshy organ; a growth in the eye; a lump from a blow; ~ of the nekke, the uvula.
Show 17 Quotations
8.
(a) A small bundle; also fig.; (b) a measure of yarn; (c) a close-packed group, a throng; on a ~, in quick succession, all together.
Show 7 Quotations
9.
A little hill [see also place names].
Show 1 Quotation
10.
(a) As surname; (b) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.5].
Show 28 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.110rb (3.18) : Þerabouten is 'humor melancolicus' wonte for to gadre into hard buddis & knottes.
  • ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.110va (3.18) : 'Attrices' ar 3 hard buddes or knottes in þe tail end.
Note: Additional quots., prob. sense 7.(b). Editor's gloss: 'knots, lumps'.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. knot.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • c1475(c1450) ?Scrope Mirror World (Bod 283)4147 : Whoosoo serueth and not deserueth, his hire he leeseth; and whoosoo leveth the knotte, he leeseth the game.
Note: Ed.: "'the knotte' must mean 'field of battle,' 'midst of battle,' or 'midst of the game' as the context and the variant French readings make clear." See knotte n. 2.(c) where 'knotte' (in a single Vegetius(2) quot.) is glossed 'the result of a battle, outcome'; mightn't it be glossed 'field of battle' instead?
Note: Mod. gloss 2.(c)?

©2025 Regents of the University of Michigan. For details about this collection's copyright see the MEC copyright statement and the U-M Library Copyright Policy. Data last refreshed Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 12:18:00.