Meaning

noun edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle

noun a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point

noun any long thin projection that is transient

originFrom Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr or Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”), from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0