genuflect
/ˈd͡ʒɛn.jʊ.flɛkt/ verb
Forms genuflects genuflecting genuflected
- verb (intransitive, archaic) To bend the knee, as in servitude.
- verb (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.
- verb (intransitive, figurative) To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.
Synonyms
Etymology
From around 1620–1630 from Medieval Latin genūflectō (“to bend the knee”) equivalent to the Latin genū (“knee”) + flectō (“to bend”).
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [See Genuflection.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “genuflect”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details