Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - knowledge

 noun  Etymology: Middle English knowlege, from knowlechen to ac~, irregular from knowen  Date: 14th century  1. obsolete cognizance  2.  a.  (1) the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association  (2) acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique  b.  (1) the fact or condition of being aware of something  (2) the range of one's information or understanding answered to the best of my ~  c. the circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning ; cognition  d. the fact or condition of having information or of being learned a person of unusual ~  3. archaic sexual intercourse  4.  a. the sum of what is known ; the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by mankind  b. archaic a branch of learning Synonyms:  ~, learning, erudition, scholarship mean what is or can be known by an individual or by mankind. ~ applies to facts or ideas acquired by study, investigation, observation, or experience rich in the ~ of human nature. learning applies to ~ acquired especially through formal, often advanced, schooling a book that demonstrates vast learning. erudition strongly implies the acquiring of profound, recondite, or bookish learning an erudition unusual even in a scholar. scholarship implies the possession of learning characteristic of the advanced scholar in a specialized field of study or investigation a work of first-rate literary scholarship.