CUNNAN

pl. cunnon; p. ic, he cúðe, ðú cúðest, pl. cúðon; subj. cunne, pl. cunnen; p. cúðe, pl. cúðen; pp. [on]-cunnen, cúþ; I. to be or become acquainted with, to know; noscĕre, scire :-- Ic ða stówe ne can I know not the place, Elen. Kmbl. 1363; El. 683: 1267; El. 635. Ic eów ne con I know you not, Cd. 227; Th. 304, 13; Sat. 629. ÐÚ canst thou knowest, Andr. Kmbl. 135; An. 68. Const, Beo. Th. 2759; B. 1377. Cann, Ps. Th. 91, 5: 93, 11. Conn, Exon. 43a; Th. 145, 12; Gú. 693. Ge ne cunnon ye know not, Cd. 179; Th. 224, 25; Dan. 141. Ðæt ðú cunne that thow knowest, 228; Th. 308, 34; Sae. 702: Elen. Kmbl. 748; El. 374. Ic cúðe I knew, Cd. 216; Th. 273, 26; Sat. 142: 19; Th. 24, 30; Gen. 385: Ors. 1, 2; Bos. 26, 34. Hwanon cúðest ðú me unde me nosti? Jn. Bos. 1, 48. Cúðon, Cd. 18; Th. 23, 10; Gen. 357: Andr. Kmbl. 1504; An. 753: Gen. 29, 5. Heó weán cúðon they became acquainted with woe, Cd. 4; Th. 5, 20; Gen. 74. Men ne cunnon men know not, Beo. Th. 327; B. 162. Ic ne conn þurh gemæcscipe monnes ówér I know not anywhere of a man through cohabitation, Exon. 10b; Th. 13, 6; Cri. 198. II. with inf. To know how to do, to have power, to be able, CAN; scire, posse :-- Ic can eów lǽran I can teach you, Cd. 219; Th. 280, 3; Sat. 250. Ðe can naman ðínne neóde hérigean qui scit jubilationem, Ps. Th. 88, 13. Hérian ne cúðon wuldres waldend they knew not how to praise the ruler of glory, Beo. Th. 367; B. 182. Dydon swá hie cúðon they did as they could, Cd. 187; Th. 232, 11; Dan. 258. [Cunnan is the second of the twelve Anglo-Saxon verbs, called præterito-præsentia, given under ágan, q. v. The inf. cunnan and the pres. can, pl. cunnon, retaining preterite inflections, are taken from the p. of the strong verb cinnan, ascertained from can, pl. cunnon, which shews the ablaut or internal change of the vowel in the p. tense of the twelfth class of Grimm's division of strong verbs [Grm. i. edn. 2, p. 898; Koch, i. p. 252], and requires, by analogy with other verbs of the same class, the inf. cinnan, q. v. and the pp. cunnen. Thus we find the original verb cinnan, p. can, pl. cunnon; pp. cunnen. The weak p. cúðe, pl. cúðon, for cunde, cundon, is formed regularly from the inf. cunnan. The pp. generally takes the weak form, in Anglo-Saxon as well as in the cognate words; but strong and weak forms are both found, in A. Sax. the strong on-cunnen, and the weak cúþ, and in M. H. Ger. the strong ver-kunnen, and the weak kunt. The same præterito-præsens may be generally observed in the following cognate words :--

	inf.	pres.	pl.	p.	pp.
Eng.		can,		could,
Laym.	cunne,	can,	cunnen,	cuðe, conðe,	cup.
Wyc.	kunne,	can, kan,	cunnen, kunnen,	konde, kouthe,	cunde, koud.
Plat.	könen,	kann,	könen,	kunden, kunnen,	kunt.
O. Sax.	kunnan,	kan,	kunnun,	costa,	kuþ.
O. Frs.	kunna,	kan,	kunnon,	kunda,	kuth, kud.
Ger.	können,	kann,	können,	konnte,	gokonnt.
M.H.Ger.	kunnen,	kan,	kunnen,	kunde,	-kunnen, kunt.
O.H.Ger.	kunnan,	kan,	kunnumés,	kunda, kunsta,	kund.
				konda, konsta,
Goth.	kunnan,	kann,	kunnum,	kunþa,	kunþs.
O. Nrs.	kunna,	kann,	kunnum,	kunna,	kunnat.]

DER. for-cunnan, on-. cunnan