A knife is a tool or weapon with a sharp metal blade and a handle, used for cutting food, materials, or sometimes in fighting.
From Old English *cnīf*, likely borrowed from Old Norse *knífr*, meaning a small blade or dagger. Related words appear in many Germanic languages, showing how basic and ancient this tool is.
The silent ‘k’ in *knife* is a fossil from when people actually pronounced the ‘k’ sound. Over time, English speakers dropped the ‘k’ in speech but kept it in spelling, so the word still wears its historical costume.
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