Word.ws English Dictionary

knowen

knowen is the past participle of know.

Meaning of know

Verb

know (third-person singular simple present knows, present participle knowing, simple past knew or (nonstandard) knowed, past participle known or (colloquial and nonstandard) knew)

  1. (transitive) To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that.
    • Question things. I have the most fun when I'm writing questioning things that people do not question- the assumptions that everybody knows are true.1985 April 17, Frank Herbert, 15:46 from the start, in Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985, UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2017
  2. (intransitive) To be or become aware or cognizant.
    • Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew.
  3. (transitive) To be aware of; to be cognizant of.
    • Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew.
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be acquainted (with another person).
    • You, and I haue knowne ſir.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  5. (transitive) To be acquainted or familiar with; to have encountered.
    • I know your mother, but I've never met your father.
    1. (archaic, euphemistic, transitive) To have sexual relations with. This meaning normally specified in modern English as e.g. to ‘know someone in the biblical sense’ or to ‘know biblically’.
      • AFterwarde the man knewe Heuáh his wife, which cõceiued & bare Káin, & ſaid, I haue obteined a man by yͤ Lord.1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Genesis IIII:1, folio 2...

See all 17 meanings of know

Origin of knowen

From Middle English knowen (“known”), from Old English cnāwen (“known, recognised[UK]/recognized[US], perceived”), past participle of cnāwan (“to know, recognise, perceive”). More at know.

Questions about knowen

What is knowen the past participle of?
Knowen is the past participle of know.

Words near knowen in the dictionary

  1. knowbies
  2. knowbot
  3. knowbots
  4. knowe
  5. knowed
  6. knowen
  7. knower
  8. knowers
  9. knowes
  10. Knowesgate
  11. knowest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knowen (page history and authors); know (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “knowen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knowen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.