knee
pronunciation
How to pronounce knee in British English:
UK [niː]
How to pronounce knee in American English:
US [niː]
-
- Noun:
- hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
- joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped; corresponds to the human knee
- cloth covering consisting of the part of a trouser leg that covers the knee
Word Origin
- knee
- knee: [OE] The majority of modern European words for ‘knee’ go back to a common Indo- European ancestor which probably originally signified ‘bend’. This was *g(e)neu or *goneu, which lies behind Latin genu ‘knee’ (source of French genou and Italian ginocchio, and also of English genuine) and may well be connected with Greek gōníā ‘angle’, from which English gets diagonal.It passed into Germanic as *knewam, which over the centuries has diversified into German and Dutch knie, Swedish knä, Danish knoe, and English knee. The derivative kneel [OE] was formed before the Anglo-Saxons reached Britain, and is shared by Dutch (knielen).=> genuine, kneel
- knee (n.)
- Old English cneo, cneow "knee," from Proto-Germanic *knewam (cognates: 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 *g(e)neu- (cognates: Sanskrit janu, Avestan znum, Hittite genu "knee;" Greek gony "knee," gonia "corner, angle;" Latin genu "knee"). 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.
Example
- 1. The knee cap is one example of a sesamoid .
- 2. Researchers in belgium assessed the knee angle in 521 schoolboys age 7 to 18 .
- 3. I knocked the wall and hurt my knee .
- 4. What happened to your knee ?
- 5. She usually wears a skirt that reaches below the knee .