ginocchio

Italian

From Vulgar Latin *genuclum, syncopated from earlier *genuculum, variant of Late Latin geniculum, diminutive of Latin genū (“knee”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu.

ginocchio m (plural ginocchi m, alternative plural ginocchia f)

The masculine plural ginocchi can be used in most cases, the female plural ginocchia is still found in certain idioms:

sedere sulle ginocchia di qualcuno ― to be sitting on someone's lap (literally, “to sit on someone's knees”)

fa venire il latte alle ginocchia ― to watch paint dry (literally, “to get milk up one's knees”)