When it comes to learning from a knot book, knowing some basic terminology is key. Knots have names, different functions that knots serve have names, and even the parts of a knot have names. Once you learn all these terms, you will find that learning and remembering knots will be much easier.

The term knot, in its most general definition, can refer to any complication in rope that has the potential for the rope to act differently than if it were not there. Since there is no official registry for the names of knots, they tend to be named by convention, by what the majority of books call them, or just by what a father called it when he taught it to his son. These names come from many sources:

• A profession or application that relies on the knot

• The knot's form or function

• The knot's inventor, famous user, or another person

Many knots have more than one name, and sometimes one name has been applied to more than one knot. When working with other people, it is sometimes necessary to double-check that you are in fact talking about the same knot when you refer to it simply by name.