genuflect
English
Etymology
PIE word |
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*ǵónu |
From around 1620–1630 from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin genūflectō (“I bend the knee”) equivalent to the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin genū (“knee”) + flectō (“to bend”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 331: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈdʒɛn.jʊ.flɛkt/
Audio (US): (file) Audio (AU): (file)
Verb
genuflect (third-person singular simple present genuflects, present participle genuflecting, simple past and past participle genuflected)
- (intransitive, archaic) To bend the knee, as in servitude.
- (intransitive) To briefly touch one knee to the ground, typically associated with religious worship.
- 1913, Adrian Fortescue, Catholic Encyclopedia, "Gospel in the Liturgy"
- 1965, Tom Lehrer, The Vatican Rag
- First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries, / Bow your head with great respect and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.
- (intransitive, figurative) To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.
- 2017 September 27, Julianne Tveten, “Zucktown, USA”, in The Baffler[1]:
- Certainly, the megalomaniacs who aim to populate municipal fixtures with registered-trademark logos will expect cities to genuflect at every turn.
Related terms
Translations
to bend the knee, as in servitude or worship
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to behave in a servile manner
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References
- “genuflect”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Categories:
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *ǵónu
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
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