Knifeman
/ˈnaɪfˌmæn/noun
A man who carries or uses a knife, especially as a weapon.
Did you know?Although knife comes from Old Norse, its ultimate origin is uncertain; man is linked to ancient Germanic words for a person or human being, not to any occult tradition.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*men-
“To think or have a mental faculty; traditionally connected with the Germanic ancestry of man and related mental vocabulary”
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*mann-
“Person or human being”
Old Norse
Old Norse
knífr
“Knife; the source of the English weapon-word, with no securely established deeper Indo-European origin”
Old English
Old English
mann
“Person, human being, or man”
Middle English
English
knif
“A cutting instrument; borrowed through Old Norse influence”
Modern English
English
knifeman
“A compound meaning a man who carries or uses a knife, particularly as a weapon”