γόνυ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *gónu, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu. Cognates include Sanskrit जानु (jānu), Latin genu, Old Armenian ծունգք (cungkʻ), Gothic 𐌺𐌽𐌹𐌿 (kniu), and Old English cnēow (English knee).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡó.ny/ → /ˈɣo.ny/ → /ˈɣo.ni/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡó.ny/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈɡo.ny/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɣo.ny/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈɣo.ny/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈɣo.ni/

Noun

γόνῠ • (gónu) n (genitive γόνᾰτος); third declension

1. knee

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ γόνῠ; τοῦ γόνᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ γόνῠ tò gónu	τὼ γόνᾰτε tṑ gónate	τᾰ̀ γόνᾰτᾰ tà gónata
Genitive	τοῦ γόνᾰτος toû gónatos	τοῖν γονᾰ́τοιν toîn gonátoin	τῶν γονᾰ́των tôn gonátōn
Dative	τῷ γόνᾰτῐ tôi gónati	τοῖν γονᾰ́τοιν toîn gonátoin	τοῖς γόνᾰσῐ / γόνᾰσῐν toîs gónasi(n)
Accusative	τὸ γόνῠ tò gónu	τὼ γόνᾰτε tṑ gónate	τᾰ̀ γόνᾰτᾰ tà gónata
Vocative	γόνῠ gónu	γόνᾰτε gónate	γόνᾰτᾰ gónata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of τὸ γόνῠ; τοῦ γούνᾰτος (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ γόνῠ tò gónu	τὼ γούνᾰτε tṑ goúnate	τᾰ̀ γούνᾰτᾰ tà goúnata
Genitive	τοῦ γούνᾰτος toû goúnatos	τοῖν γουνᾰ́τοιν toîn gounátoin	τῶν γουνᾰ́των tôn gounátōn
Dative	τῷ γούνᾰτῐ tôi goúnati	τοῖν γουνᾰ́τοιν toîn gounátoin	τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν γούνᾰσῐ / γούνᾰσσῐ toîsi(n) goúnasi / goúnassi
Accusative	τὸ γόνῠ tò gónu	τὼ γούνᾰτε tṑ goúnate	τᾰ̀ γούνᾰτᾰ tà goúnata
Vocative	γόνῠ gónu	γούνᾰτε goúnate	γούνᾰτᾰ goúnata
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

• Poetic: genitive singular: γουνός (gounós), dative singular: γουνί (gouní), plural (nom, acc, voc): γοῦνα (goûna), genitive plural: γούνων (goúnōn)
• Aeolic: plural (nom, acc, voc): γόνα (góna), plural genitive: γόνων (gónōn)

Derived terms

• γονῠαλγής (gonualgḗs)
• γονῠκαμψεπίκυρτος (gonukampsepíkurtos)
• γονῠκαυσαγρύπνα (gonukausagrúpna)
• γονῠκλινέω (gonuklinéō)
• γονῠκλινής (gonuklinḗs)
• γονῠκλιτέω (gonuklitéō)
• γονύκροτος (gonúkrotos)
• γονῠπετέω (gonupetéō)
• γονῠπετής (gonupetḗs)
• γονῠπλήξ (gonuplḗx)
• ἐπῐγονᾰτῐ́ς (epigonatís)

 

Related terms

• γνύξ (gnúx)

Descendants

• Greek: γόνατο (gónato)

References

• “γόνυ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γόνυ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “γόνυ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• γόνυ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• γόνυ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• γόνυ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “γόνυ”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1119 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• γόνυ in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • knee idem, page 470.

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Greek

Alternative forms

• γόνατο (gónato) (standard form)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɣoni/
• Hyphenation: γό‧νυ

Noun

γόνυ • (góny) n (plural γόνατα)

1. (archaic, expression) knee. Used in the set phrase (in indication of respect):

   κλίνω το γόνυ ― klíno to góny ― I show respect (literally, “I bend the knee”)

Declension

Declension of γόνυ

	singular	plural
nominative	γόνυ •	γόνατα •
genitive	γόνατος •	γονάτων •
accusative	γόνυ •	γόνατα •
vocative	γόνυ •	γόνατα •