Wordwyrt

cunning

/ˈkʌnɪŋ/KUH-ning
/ˈkʌnɪŋ/KUH-ning

Meaningknow

Common meaning: skilled at tricking others

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√GAN‘know’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 88, p. 733 · scan
  2. Old Englishcunnan‘know’sourceB&T
  3. Middle Englishcunningsource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsknow → skilled at tricking otherscunning‘skilled at tricking others’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English cunnan ‘know’.

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app