Knotty
/ˈnɒti/noun
Full of knots or difficult to solve.
Did you know?In English, knotty has long carried both a physical sense and a metaphorical one, because a “knot” could mean a tangle in wood or a problem that resists being untied.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gneh₁-
“to tie, bind, or knot”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*knuttaz
“a knot or lump”
Old English
English
cnottig
“knotted, full of knots”
Middle English
English
knotti
“having knots; difficult or intricate”
Modern English
English
knotty
“full of knots; complicated or difficult”