canif

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle English knif (“knife”), from Old English cnīf (“knife”), from Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz (“knife”). Akin to Old French cnivet, canivet (“little knife”), Catalan ganivet (“knife”), from Frankish *knīf (“knife”), from the same Germanic source. More at knife.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.nif/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

canif m (plural canifs)

1. clasp-knife, penknife
   • 1976, Serge Gainsbourg, “Chez Max coiffeur pour hommes”, in L’homme à tête de chou:

     Et sens la pointe d'un canif
     Me percer le cœur je luis dis
     "Petite je te sors ce soir, ok ?"

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• donner un coup de canif dans le contrat

Further reading

• “canif”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.