[Origin: 1275–1325; (n.) ME; OE cunnung, equiv. to cunn(an) to know (see can1) + -ung-ing1; (adj., v.) ME, prp. of cunnan to know (see can1, -ing2)]
—Related forms
cun·ning·ly, adverb
cun·ning·ness, noun
—Synonyms 1. shrewdness, artfulness, wiliness, trickery, finesse, intrigue, slyness, deception. Cunning,artifice,craft imply an inclination toward deceit, slyness, and trickery. Cunning implies a shrewd, often instinctive skill in concealing or disguising the real purposes of one's actions: not intelligence but a low kind of cunning. An artifice is a clever, unscrupulous ruse, used to mislead others: a successful artifice to conceal one's motives. Craft suggests underhand methods and the use of deceptive devices and tricks to attain one's ends: craft and deceitfulness in every act. 2. adroitness. 3. ingenious, skillful. 4. artful, wily, tricky, foxy.
can1Audio Help/kæn; unstressedkən/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kan; unstressedkuhn]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciationauxiliary verb and verb, present singular 1st person can, 2nd can or (Archaic) canst, 3rd can, present plural can; past singular 1st person could, 2nd could or (Archaic) couldst, 3rd could, past plural could. For auxiliary verb: imperative, infinitive, and participles lacking.For verb (Obsolete):imperative can; infinitive can; past participle could; present participle cun·ning.
–auxiliary verb
1.
to be able to; have the ability, power, or skill to: She can solve the problem easily, I'm sure.
2.
to know how to: He can play chess, although he's not particularly good at it.
3.
to have the power or means to: A dictator can impose his will on the people.
4.
to have the right or qualifications to: He can change whatever he wishes in the script.
5.
may; have permission to: Can I speak to you for a moment?
6.
to have the possibility: A coin can land on either side.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
7.
Obsolete. to know.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME, OE, pres. ind. sing. 1st, 3rd person of cunnan to know, know how; c. G, ON, Goth kann; see ken, know]
—Usage note Can1 and may1 are frequently but not always interchangeable in senses indicating possibility: A power failure can (or may) occur at any time. Despite the insistence by some, that can means only “to be able” and may means “to be permitted,” both are regularly used in seeking or granting permission: Can (or May) I borrow your tape recorder? You can (or may) use it tomorrow. Sentences using can occur chiefly in spoken English. May in this sense occurs more frequently in formal contexts: May I address the court, Your Honor? In negative constructions, can't or cannot is more common than may not: You can't have it today. I need it myself. The contraction mayn't is rare. Can but and cannot but are formal and now somewhat old-fashioned expressions suggesting that there is no possible alternative to doing something. Can but is equivalent to can only: We can but do our best. Cannot but is the equivalent of cannot help but: We cannot but protest against these injustices. See also cannot, help.
attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness; "a cute kid with pigtails"; "a cute little apartment"; "cunning kittens"; "a cunning baby"
2.
marked by skill in deception; "cunning men often pass for wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a wily old attorney"
3.
showing inventiveness and skill; "a clever gadget"; "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"; "an ingenious solution to the problem" [syn: clever]
noun
1.
shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception [syn: craft]
Art"ful\, a. [From Art.]1. Performed with, or characterized by, art or skill. [Archaic] "Artful strains." "Artful terms." --Milton. 2. Artificial; imitative. --Addison. 3. Using or exhibiting much art, skill, or contrivance; dexterous; skillful. He [was] too artful a writer to set down events in exact historical order. --Dryden. 4. Cunning; disposed to cunning indirectness of dealing; crafty; as, an artful boy. [The usual sense.] Artful in speech, in action, and in mind. --Pope. The artful revenge of various animals. --Darwin. Syn: Cunning; skillful; adroit; dexterous; crafty; tricky; deceitful; designing. See Cunning.
Can\, v. t. & i. Note: [The transitive use is obsolete.] [imp. Could.] [OE. cunnen, cannen (1st sing. pres. I can), to know, know how, be able, AS. cunnan, 1st sing. pres. ic cann or can, pl. cunnon, 1st sing. imp. c[=u][eth]e (for cun[eth]e); p. p. c[=u][eth] (for cun[eth]); akin to OS. Kunnan, D. Kunnen, OHG. chunnan, G. k["o]nnen, Icel. kunna, Goth. Kunnan, and E. ken to know. The present tense I can (AS. ic cann) was originally a preterit, meaning I have known or Learned, and hence I know, know how. [root]45. See Ken, Know; cf. Con, Cunning, Uncouth.]1. To know; to understand. [Obs.] I can rimes of Rodin Hood. --Piers Plowman. I can no Latin, quod she. --Piers Plowman. Let the priest in surplice white, That defunctive music can. --Shak. 2. To be able to do; to have power or influence. [Obs.] The will of Him who all things can. --Milton. For what, alas, can these my single arms? --Shak. M[ae]c[ae]nas and Agrippa, who can most with C[ae]sar. --Beau. & Fl. 3. To be able; -- followed by an infinitive without to; as, I can go, but do not wish to. Syn: Can but, Can not but. It is an error to use the former of these phrases where the sens requires the latter. If we say, "I can but perish if I go," "But" means only, and denotes that this is all or the worst that can happen. When the apostle Peter said. "We can not but speak of the things which we have seen and heard." he referred to a moral constraint or necessety which rested upon him and his associates; and the meaning was, We cannot help speaking, We cannot refrain from speaking. This idea of a moral necessity or constraint is of frequent occurrence, and is also expressed in the phrase, "I can not help it." Thus we say. "I can not but hope," "I can not but believe," "I can not but think," "I can not but remark," etc., in cases in which it would be an error to use the phrase can but. Yet he could not but acknowledge to himself that there was something calculated to impress awe, . . . in the sudden appearances and vanishings . . . of the masque --De Quincey. Tom felt that this was a rebuff for him, and could not but understand it as a left-handed hit at his employer. --Dickens.
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