knee

English

Etymology

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 Low German Knee, Dutch knie, German Knie, Danish knæ, Norwegian 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

• (UK) enPR: nē, IPA^(key): /niː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ni/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /kniː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophone: nee

Noun

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

1. 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.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 249:

     He made him ſtoup perforce vnto his knee, / And doe vnwilling worſhip to the Saint, / That on his ſhield depainted he did ſee […]

   • 1988 March 21, Vaughn Armstrong, Heart of Glory (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (Science Fiction), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:

     KORRIS: I have tasted your heart. You have been with them, but you are still "of" us. Do not deny the challenge of your destiny. Get off your knees and soar. Open your eyes and let the dream take flight.

2. In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans.
3. The part of a garment that covers the knee.
4. (shipbuilding) A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent.
   • 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.

5. (archaic) An act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy.
   • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , line 36:

     Give them title, knee, and approbation.

   • 2009, C. E. Murphy, The Pretender's Crown, page 127:

     […] and he made a knee to the Caesar of Patna, giving that man all honour due to him.

6. Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line; an inflection point.

   the knee of a graph

7. 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.

8. (figurative) The presence of a parent etc., where a young child acquires early knowledge.
   • 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

Translations

Verb

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

1. (transitive, archaic) To kneel to.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     I could as well be brought / To knee his throne and, squire-like, pension beg / To keep base life afoot

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

Anagrams

• Enke, Keen, keen, kene, kène, neek

Middle English

Noun

knee

1. Alternative form of kne

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the noun kne n (“knee”).

Pronunciation

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

Verb

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

• knea (as a-infinitive)

Noun

knee n

1. (Midlandsnormalen) definite singular of kne

References

• “knee” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.