Exploration/clarification about “know”

I am extracting this little bit from the definition of “know”:
“Old English cnawan (class VII strong verb; past tense cneow, past participle cnawen), ‘perceive a thing to be identical with another…’”
When I try to make this idea gel about perceiving two things in such a way that they are identical, instead, I encounter Teflon.
Rather than trying to articulate this slip -sliding right now, I am seeking to hear how others interpret this.

It’s always like this: the less sharply we’re able to define a concept, the more slippery the related word becomes in the course of its evolution - have a look at the discussion about “understand”, it’s quite interesting.
Whether gel, teflon, soap or banana peels, it doesn’t make much of a difference: as soon as you try to grab it firmly it squirts loose off your hands.

As for “know” I can only venture a weak and rickety hypothesis by interpreting the concept as “try to perceive something never met before in terms one already has available”.
Far fetched? I know… but with a bit of stretching it might be a quasi-decent intermediate step between spotting an identity and acquiring a new concept.

Disagree with me and you’ll probably be right :slightly_smiling_face:

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