canif
French edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Noun edit
canif m (plural canifs)
- clasp-knife, penknife
- 1976, Serge Gainsbourg (lyrics and music), “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)
Further reading edit
- “canif”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.