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# knew

«knew» in Mova's early modern english dictionary: **recognised; had intimate knowledge of** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### kind

archaic sense

### modern equivalent

recognised; had intimate knowledge of

### part of speech

verb, past tense of know

### meaning for a pupil

To be aware of someone or to recognise them; in the third sentence, to have chosen or loved someone before they were born. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/K/knew/#m1)

### how it differs from today

Today "knew" means to understand or be aware of something. The third sentence uses an old sense, meaning to have a close, chosen bond with a person, and "knew" in the first sentence is closer to "recognised".

### examples

- And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. (Torah GEN.42.8, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/K/knew/#x1)
- No one knew what to do. (Fifty Famous Stories Retold) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/K/knew/#x2)
- Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee." Rabbi Luria, gives the Hebrew version which I have translated. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/K/knew/#x3)

### tests

manual 10.3; corpora 1896 (Torah 30, tales 1863, Sefer Yetzirah 3); EWT 23; ratio 4.6 (Torah alone 1.5); Wiktionary no archaic label

### In the corpora

- [And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.241/)
- [And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.517/)
- [And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1369/)
- [And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for the interpreter was between them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/GEN.1384/)
- [Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «knew» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/K/knew/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.