The verb ведать and its many children

This post was originally made by E-chan. on Duolingo Russian forum.

Let me introduce you to one very old word.
Ве́дать means "to know". It’s an archaic word, nowadays the common term for "to know" is "знать".
It’s still used in an expression like:
[Он] не ведает, что творит. – [He] doesn’t know what [he]’s doing.
The second meaning is "to be in charge (of)", "to manage (smth.)" (about some institutions).

This word is hardly ever used these days, but it gave birth to a lot of wildly used words. Knowing this root-word might help you to remember these words and to understand how words can be formed.

Some related words:

све́дение – a notice, knowledge about smth.
принять к сведению – to take notice (of), to take smth. into consideration
све́дения (in the plural) – information, news, general knowledge about smth.
по моим сведениям – to my knowledge

ве́домство – a department, agency, office. Derives from "ведать" in the meaning "to be in charge (of)"
судебное ведомство — judiciary establishment

ве́сть – news, piece of news, message; nowadays the general word for "news" is "новость", however this word is used in some expressions e.g.:
пропасть без вести – to disappear without a trace
не бог весть [как/что/сколько/...] – not much... (not that good, no big deal etc.)
also there are big news media called «Вести», «Известия», «Ведомости»

разве́дка – reconnaissance, intelligence; scouting, exploration. An action with the purpose to get some knowledge about something
разведка на нефть — oil exploration
работать в разведке — to work in intelligence

осведоми́тель – an informer; a person who secretly gives information
тайный осведомитель — confidential informant

изве́стный – well-known
хорошо известный факт — well-known fact

уве́домить and оповести́ть – to inform, to notify (both are rather official)

выве́дывать – to find out, to worm out
выведать секрет у кого-л. — to worm a secret out of smb.

заве́домо – knowingly, wittingly, deliberately; "за-" from "заранее" (in advance) + "ведать" (to know) = known in advance
давать заведомо ложные показания – deliberately give false evidence

Some less obvious connections:

по́весть – a novella, a story (shorter than a novel); from "поведать" – to tell, to "share knowledge"

ве́дьма – a witch; a woman who has some special knowledge

неве́ста – a bride; probably from "не" (not) + "ведать" (to know) = unknown (either indicating that she is unknown to the groom’s family or to protect a new bride from evil spirits)

ве́жливый (adj.) – polite, courteous, civil, someone who "knows how to behave"

про́поведь – a sermon, preaching; a talk on a religious or moral subject (for the purpose of "to share knowledge")
читать проповедь — to preach

за́поведь – a commandment (a religious strict rule, or just a strict rule)
десять заповедей – the ten Commandments

запове́дник – a nature/game/forest reserve, national park. Derives from "заповедный" – an adj. derived from "заповедь"
музей-заповедник — a national park, open-air museum
лесной заповедник – a forest reserve

That's enough for now. There are many more words with the same root, I've tried to choose the most useful ones to know.

Now try to guess the meaning of these words:
неве́домо (adv.)
разве́дчик (noun)
повествова́тель (noun)
неве́жа (noun) 

 

P.S. The last word to guess is a tricky one. A hint: try to find a word with a root that looks the same, apply the required prefix and make it a noun (this word is used to describe a person).