How did a knot get its name?

Answer 1

In the early days of sailing a method had to be devised to calculate the speed of a ship or boat through the water.

One method used was a length of rope with knots tied in it at regular intervals. This became known as the ships log, not to be confused with the ships log book.

This rope was cast over the side or stern of the vessel and the number of knots passing through the sailors hands were counted over a given period of time.

This was later standardised with the introduction of the nautical mile. A rate of advance of one nautical mile per hour was then refered to as 1 knot, and is still in use today