knee | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

56 entries found.

"joint between the principal bones of the leg," Old English cneo, cneow "knee," from Proto-Germanic *knewa- (source also of Old Norse kne, Old Saxon kneo, Old Frisian kni, Middle Dutch cnie, Dutch knie, Old High German kniu, German Knie, Gothic kniu), from PIE root *genu- (1) "knee; angle." For pronunciation, see kn-.

To be across (someone's) knee in reference to spanking is from 1866. Knee-breeches is from 1827; knee-pants is from 1858. Knee-slapper "funny joke" is from 1955.

knee (v.)

early 13c., "to bend the knee, kneel," from Old English cneowian, from cneow (see knee (n.)). The meaning "to strike with the knee" is first recorded 1892. Related: Kneed; kneeing.

knee-deep (adj.)

c. 1400, "up to the knees," from knee (n.) + deep (adj.).

knee-jerk (n.)

patellar reflex, a neurological phenomenon discovered and named in 1876; see knee (n.) + jerk (n.1) in the medical sense. The figurative use appeared soon after the phrase was coined.

knee-high (adj.)

1743, from knee (n.) + high (adj.). Phrase knee-high to a grasshopper first recorded 1851 (earliest form was knee-high to a toad, 1814).

knock-kneed (adj.)

1774, from knock (v.) + knee (n.).

kneepad (n.)

also knee-pad, 1858, from knee (n.) + pad (n.).

kneecap (n.)

1650s, "a covering or protection for the knee," from knee (n.) + cap (n.). Meaning "bone in front of the knee joint" is from 1869; the verb in the underworld sense of "to shoot (someone) in the knee" as punishment is attested by 1975. Related: Kneecapped.

*genu- (1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "knee; angle."

It forms all or part of: agonic; decagon; diagonal; geniculate; genuflect; genuflection; -gon; goniometer; heptagon; hexagon; knee; kneel; octagon; orthogonal; pentagon; polygon; trigonometry.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit janu, Avestan znum, Hittite genu "knee;" Greek gony "knee," gōnia "corner, angle;" Latin genu "knee;" Old English cneo, cneow "knee."

geniculate (adj.)

"having knots or joints; bent like a knee," 1660s, from Latin geniculatus "having knots, knotted," from geniculum "little knee, knot on the stalk of a plant," diminutive of genu "knee" (from PIE root *genu- (1) "knee; angle"). Related: Geniculation (1610s).

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