Genu
/ˈdʒɛn.juː/noun
The knee, especially in medical or anatomical usage.
Did you know?Latin genu is one of several Indo-European body words that survived into anatomy, and it also gave English the scientific term genus through a different Latin root, not as a direct descendant.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenu-
“knee”
Latin
Latin
genu
“knee”
Late Latin
Latin
genuculum
“knee-joint; kneecap”
Middle English
English
genu
“used in learned anatomical Latin”
Modern English
English
genu
“the knee, especially in anatomy”