genuflect

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

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.jʊ.flɛkt/

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genuflect (third-person singular simple present genuflects, present participle genuflecting, simple past and past participle genuflected)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To bend the knee, as in servitude.
2. (intransitive) To briefly enter a position that touches one knee to the ground in a manner that is typically associated with formal homage or religious worship.
   • 1913, Adrian Fortescue, Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Gospel in the Liturgy:

     At high Mass the deacon and subdeacon stand on either side, genuflect too, and answer.

   • 1965, Tom Lehrer, The Vatican Rag:

     First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries, / Bow your head with great respect and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.

   • circ. 1965, Mario Puzo, The Godfather:

     She took the holy water on her fingertips and made the sign of the cross, fleetingly touched her wet fingertips to her parched lips. Candles flickered redly before the saints, the Christ on his cross. Kay genuflected before entering her row and then knelt on the hard wooden rail of the pew to wait for her call to Communion.

3. (intransitive, figurative) To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.
   • 2017 September 27, Julianne Tveten, “Zucktown, USA”, in The Baffler‎:

     Certainly, the megalomaniacs who aim to populate municipal fixtures with registered-trademark logos will expect cities to genuflect at every turn.

The brief manner of touching one knee to the ground while genuflecting differs from the duration typically associated with kneeling down onto one or two knees.

• genuflection
• genuflector

• “genuflect”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.