Genuflection
/ˌdʒɛn.juˈflɛk.ʃən/noun
The act of bending one or both knees to the ground, especially as a sign of reverence or submission.
Did you know?Genuflection comes from the same Latin root as “genital,” because both descend from *genus* meaning “knee,” a reminder that bodies and language have been wired together since antiquity.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenu-
“knee”
Latin
Latin
genu
“knee”
Latin
Latin
genuflectere
“to bend the knee”
Late Latin
Latin
genuflexio
“a kneeling or bending of the knee”
Middle English
English
genuflexion
“the act of kneeling, especially in worship”
Modern English
English
genuflection
“the act of bending one or both knees to the ground, especially as a sign of reverence or submission”