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Added 9 October 2026

genuflect

/ˈd͡ʒɛn.jʊ.flɛkt/ verb

In Latin: genuflecto Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about genuflect at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Bend the knees and bow in church or before a religious superior or image.
Bend the knees and bow in a servile manner.

Origin

PIE word *ǵónu From around 1620–1630 from Medieval Latin genūflectō (“to bend the knee”) equivalent to the Latin genū (“knee”) + flectō (“to bend”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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