Knack
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knack¹
- /næk/
Sounds like nack · Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
Late Middle English, use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak, knack (“a sharp sound or blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German and of imitative origin, similar to Dutch knak (“snap, crack”). Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack.
noun knacks
- A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. These men had some uncanny knack of knowing when the steel was right, and like many such things, it just could not be put into a textbook on the subject.
- A petty contrivance; a toy.
- Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity.
verb knacks · knacking · knacked
- To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink. If they hear the Beads knack upon each other, that's enough.
- To speak affectedly.
Knack²
Where it comes from
German surname, variant of Knaack.
Also as a German surname, from Bavarian genack (“neck”); see German Genick (“nape of the neck”), English neck.
proper noun Knacks
- A surname.
