know [OE] The ancient root of know is shared by *can and ken, ‘to know’ in Scots (all Old English), and also by Latin noscere, and Greek gignōskein ‘to know’, source of words such as *agnostic. To know in the biblical sense, meaning ‘to have sex with’, comes from biblical uses such as the verse in the book of Genesis: ‘And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain.’ To know the ropes [E19th] is to be thoroughly acquainted with the way in which something is done. The phrase comes from the days of sailing ships, when skill in handling ropes was essential for any sailor—an alternative is know their onions [E20th]. The origin of this phrase is unknown, but it may have been a deliberately comic variant of the often pompous expressions such as ‘a man who knowns his …’ meaning know all is necessary about something. The ancients valued self-knowledge as the way to wisdom—inscribed on the Greek temple of Apollo at Delphi were the words know thyself. The line ‘It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it’ was never said in the original TV series Star Trek but is from the 1987 song ‘Star Trekkin’’ by The Firm. See also gnome.