koleno

See also: kóleno and Koleno

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech koleno, from Proto-Slavic *kolěno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkolɛno]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛno
• Hyphenation: ko‧le‧no

Noun

koleno n (diminutive kolínko or kolénko)

1. (anatomy) knee (of a human, animal, robot, puppet, etc.)

Declension

Declension of koleno (hard neuter)

	singular	plural
nominative	koleno	kolena
genitive	kolena, kolene	kolen, kolenou
dative	kolenu	kolenům
accusative	koleno	kolena
vocative	koleno	kolena
locative	koleně, kolenu, koleni	kolenou, kolenech
instrumental	kolenem	koleny

Noun

koleno n

1. something similar to a knee:
   1. bend (in a river)
   2. elbow (in a pipe)
2. generation

   Synonyms: pokolení, generace

Declension

Declension of koleno (hard neuter)

	singular	plural
nominative	koleno	kolena
genitive	kolena, kolene	kolen
dative	kolenu	kolenům
accusative	koleno	kolena
vocative	koleno	kolena
locative	koleně, kolenu, koleni	kolenech
instrumental	kolenem	koleny

Derived terms

• kolenní
• kolínka
• kolínko
• na koleně

Further reading

• “koleno”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “koleno”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “koleno”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Lower Sorbian

Noun

koleno n (diminutive kolenko)

1. superseded spelling of kóleno

Declension

Declension of koleno

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	koleno	kolenje	kolena
Genitive	kolena	kolenowu	kolenow
Dative	kolenoju, kolenu	kolenoma	kolenam
Accusative	koleno	kolenje	kolena
Instrumental	kolenom	kolenoma	kolenami
Locative	kolenje	kolenoma	kolenach

Derived terms

• kolenaty
• koleniś se
• kolenkowaś

Old Czech

Alternative forms

• koľeno (alternative writing)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kolěno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈkolɛno/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈkolɛno/

Noun

koleno n

1. knee

   na koleno přivésti ― to bring to the knees

   Jeho koleně třasúce sě tepiešta sě v hromadu. ― His knees were beating against each other trembling.

2. kneecap
3. generation
4. (collective) creatures

Declension

original

Declension of koleno (hard o-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	koleno	koleně	kolena
genitive	kolena	kolenú	kolen
dative	kolenu	kolenoma	kolenóm
accusative	koleno	koleně	kolena
vocative	koleno	koleně	kolena
locative	koleně, kolenu	kolenú	koleniech
instrumental	kolenem	kolenoma	koleny

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.
See also Appendix:Old Czech nouns and Appendix:Old Czech pronunciation.

later as well

Declension of koleno (n-stem irreg-stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	koleno	koleně	kolena
genitive	kolene	kolenú	kolen
dative	koleni	kolenoma	kolenóm
accusative	koleno	koleně	kolena
vocative	koleno	koleně	kolena
locative	koleni	kolenú	koleniech
instrumental	kolenem	kolenoma	koleny

This table shows the most common forms around the 13th century.
See also Appendix:Old Czech nouns and Appendix:Old Czech pronunciation.

Derived terms

• pokolenie

Descendants

• Czech: koleno

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “koleno”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Chełmno-Dobrzyń) IPA^(key): /kɔˈlɛ.nɔ/

Noun

koleno n

1. (Chełmno-Dobrzyń) alternative form of kolano

Further reading

• Antoni Krasnowolski (1879) “koleno”, in Album uczącéj się młodzieży polskiéj poświęcone Józefowi Ignacemu Kraszewskiemu z powodu jubileuszu jego pięćdziesięcioletniéj działalności literackiéj (in Polish), Lviv: Czytelni Akademickiéj Lwowskiéj; "Gaz. Narod." J. Dobrzańskiego i K. Gromana, Słowniczek prowincjalizmów zebranych w ziemi chełmińskiej i świeckiej, page 304

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• kòljeno (Ijekavian)
• kolino (Ikavian)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kolěno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kǒleno/
• Hyphenation: ko‧le‧no

Noun

kòleno n (Cyrillic spelling ко̀лено)

1. knee
2. joint, bent
3. knot
4. knuckle
5. angle
6. generation, descent
7. family, race, house

Declension

Declension of koleno

	singular	plural
nominative	kòleno	kolena
genitive	kolena	kȍlēnā
dative	kolenu	kolenima
accusative	koleno	kolena
vocative	koleno	kolena
locative	kolenu	kolenima
instrumental	kolenom	kolenima

References

• “koleno”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kolěno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɔʎenɔ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

koleno n

1. knee
2. (archaic) generation

Declension

Declension of koleno
(pattern mesto)

	singular	plural
nominative	koleno	kolená
genitive	kolena	kolien
dative	kolenu	kolenám
accusative	koleno	kolená
locative	kolene	kolenách
instrumental	kolenom	kolenami

Derived terms

• kolenový, kolenný
• kolienko

Further reading

• “koleno”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *kolěno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔlèːnɔ/

Noun

kolẹ́no n

1. (anatomy) knee

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Neuter, hard
nom. sing.	koléno
gen. sing.	koléna
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	koléno	koléni	koléna
genitive (rodȋlnik)	koléna	kolén	kolén
dative (dajȃlnik)	kolénu	kolénoma	kolénom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	koléno	koléni	koléna
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	kolénu	kolénih	kolénih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	kolénom	kolénoma	koléni

Further reading

• “koleno”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Upper Sorbian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kolě̀no.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔlɛnɔ/
• Rhymes: -ɔlɛnɔ
• Hyphenation: ko‧le‧no
• Syllabification: ko‧le‧no

Noun

koleno n (diminutive kolenko)

1. (anatomy) knee (anterior, prominent part of the region corresponding to the articulation of the femur with the tibia)

Declension

Declension of koleno (neuter hard stem)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	koleno	kolenje	kolena
genitive	kolena	kolenow, kolen	kolenow, kolen
dative	kolenu	kolenomaj	kolenam
accusative	koleno	kolenje	kolena
instrumental	kolenom	kolenomaj	kolenami
locative	kolenje	kolenomaj	kolenach
vocative	koleno	kolenje	kolena

References

• “koleno” in Soblex