Knee

Knee

Noun / Verb · /niː/

Definition

(Noun) the joint in the human leg between the thigh and the lower leg; the corresponding joint in other animals; the part of clothing covering the knee; (Verb) to hit someone with the knee.

Origin

From Old English cnēow (knee), from Proto-Germanic *knewan, related to German Knie, Dutch knie, Latin genu, and Greek gonu. The initial K is silent in modern English but was pronounced in Old English. The Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenu- gives knee, genuflect, and genuflection.