Knot

For speeds, see Knot (unit). For the mathematical object, see Knot (mathematics). For other uses, see Knot (disambiguation).

Nordisk familjebok knots:

1. Yarn knot (ABoK #2688)
2. Manrope knot (ABoK #847)
3. Granny knot (ABoK #1206)
4. Wall and crown knot (ABoK #670, #671)
5. Matthew Walker's knot (ABoK #681)
6. Shroud knot (ABoK #1580)
7. Turk's head knot (ABoK #1278-#1397)
8. Overhand knot, Figure-of-eight knot (ABoK #514, #520)
9. Reef knot, Square knot (ABoK #1402)
10. Two half-hitches (ABoK #54)

Knot board on Elbe 1 (ship, 1965)

An example of a quipu from the Inca Empire, currently in the Larco Museum Collection.

Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot, by Jean-Simon Berthélemy (1743–1812)

Gordian Knot statue (1990)

Magimagi sennit of Fiji around wooden ceiling posts.

Blackfoot "Teton" tipi tie

A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a hitch fastens a rope to another object; a bend fastens two ends of a rope to each another; a loop knot is any knot creating a loop; and splice denotes any multi-strand knot, including bends and loops. A knot may also refer, in the strictest sense, to a stopper or knob at the end of a rope to keep that end from slipping through a grommet or eye. Knots have excited interest since ancient times for their practical uses, as well as their topological intricacy, studied in the area of topology known as knot theory.