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knee

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Knee

English

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw- der.
Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéwom
Proto-Germanic *knewą
Proto-West Germanic *kneu
Old English cnēo
Middle English kne
English knee

    Inherited from Middle English kne , from Old English cnēow , from Proto-West Germanic *kneu , from Proto-Germanic *knewą , from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-o-m, a thematic derivative of *ǵónu .

    See also West Frisian knibbel , Low German Knee , Knie , Dutch knie , German Knie , Danish knæ , Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk kne , Swedish knä ; also Hittite 𒄀𒉡 (genu), Latin genū , Tocharian A kanweṃ (dual), Tocharian B kenī , Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu, "knee"), γωνία (gōnía, "corner, angle"), Welsh glin ("knee"), Old Armenian ծունր (cunr), Avestan 𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨 (žnum), Sanskrit जानु (jā́nu).

    The obsolete plural kneen is from Middle English kneen , knen , kneon , kneuwene .

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    A human knee

    knee (plural knees or (obsolete or dialectal ) kneen )

    1. (anatomy ) In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.
      Penny was wearing a miniskirt, so she skinned her exposed knees when she fell.
    2. In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans.
    3. In birds:
      1. (non-technical) The tarsal joint, uniting the tarsometatarsus and the tibiotarsus (homologous to the human ankle).
      2. The joint uniting the tibiotarsus and the femur, typically hidden beneath plumage.
    4. The part of a garment that covers the knee.
    5. (shipbuilding) A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent.
      • 1911, Arthur Hamilton Clark, The Clipper Ship Era 1843-1869, Chapter 1:
        In the first place, British men-of-war and merchantmen were at that time built with massive oak frames, knees, and planking, the timber of which had lain at dockyards seasoning in salt water for many years, and was as hard and almost as heavy as iron, while they were fastened with weighty through-and-through copper bolts; so that the ships themselves became rigid, dead structures—sluggish in moderate winds, and in gales and a seaway, wallowing brutes—whereas the American frigates and privateers were built of material barely seasoned in the sun and wind, and were put together as lightly as possible consistent with the strength needed to carry their batteries and to hold on to their canvas in heavy weather.
      • 1980, Richard W. Unger, The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600, page 41:
        Deck beams were supported by hanging knees, triangular pieces of wood typically found underneath the timbers they are designed to support, but in this case found above them.
    6. (archaic ) An act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy.
    7. Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line; an inflection point.
      the knee of a graph
    8. A blow made with the knee; a kneeing.
      • 2016, Clive Mullis, Scooters Yard:
        Tante was groggy but not quite out so Winnie gave him a knee to the jaw that Rose had shown her, and that was enough. He slumped like a rag-doll to the floor.
    9. (figurative ) The presence of a parent etc., where a young child acquires early knowledge.
      Coordinate term: lap
      • 1978, Time, volume 111, numbers 18-26, page 49:
        The duty is, or should be, a thing taught at one's father's knee, and the structure of the family gently enforces it.
      • 2015, Brian Douglas, The Eucharistic Theology of Edward Bouverie Pusey, page 113:
        This has significant implications for sacramental theology which it seems Pusey even realised in the way he spoke of his early life and of learning all he knew about the Eucharist and the Catholic faith at his mother's knee, [...]

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    joint in the middle of the leg and area around it
    part of a garment
    shipbuilding: piece of timber or metal formed with an angle
    act of kneeling
    any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line
    blow made with the knee — see kneeing
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Verb

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    knee (third-person singular simple present knees , present participle kneeing , simple past and past participle kneed )

    1. (transitive , archaic ) To kneel to.
    2. (transitive ) To poke or strike with the knee.
      When I blocked her from leaving, she kneed me in the groin.
    3. (reflexive ) To move on the knees; to use the knees to move.
      • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 489:
        Hassan kneed himself up, over, in, soundlessly, feet on floor, knife out, eyes like blunter knife trying to cut darkness.

    Translations

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    To kneel to
    To poke or strike with the knee

    References

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    1. ^ Dobson, E[ric] J. (1957), English pronunciation 1500-1700‎[1] , second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 416, page 976: "In OE and ME [k] in the initial group kn- in, for example, knife had the same pronunciation as before other consonants (e.g. [l] in cliff ), and is retained as [k] by all sixteenth- and most seventeenth-century orthoepists."

    Anagrams

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    Middle English

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    Noun

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    knee

    1. alternative form of kne

    Norwegian Nynorsk

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    Etymology

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    From the noun kne  n ("knee").

    Pronunciation

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    • (verb): IPA (key): /2kneːə/
    • (noun): IPA (key): /ˈkneːə/

    Verb

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    knee (present tense knear , past tense knea , past participle knea , passive infinitive kneast , present participle kneande , imperative knee/kne )

    1. (intransitive ) to kneel, to fall on one's knees
      Synonym: knele
    2. (intransitive ) to walk on one's knees
    3. (transitive ) to poke or strike with the knee

    Alternative forms

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    • knea (as a-infinitive)

    Noun

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    knee n

    1. (Midlandsnormalen ) definite singular of kne

    References

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    • "knee" in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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