Knee
Pronunciation
- UK enPR: nÄ“, IPA: /niË/
- US IPA: /ni/
- Rhymes: -iË
- Homophones: nee
Origin
From Middle English kne, from Old English cnÄ“o, from Proto-Germanic *knewÄ… (compare Low German Knee, Dutch knie, German Knie, Danish knæ, Swedish knä), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéwo-, a thematic derivative of Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu. Compare Hittite 𒄀𒉡, Latin genÅ«, Tocharian A kanweṃ (dual), Tocharian B kenÄ«, Ancient Greek γόνυ (góny, "knee"), γωνία (gÅnÃa, "corner, angle"), Old Armenian Õ®Õ¸Ö‚Õ¶Ö€ (cunr), Avestan ð¬²ð¬¥ð¬Žð¬¨ (žnum), Sanskrit जानà¥.
Full definition of knee
Noun
- 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.
- In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans.
- The part of a garment that covers the knee.
- (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 41Deck 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.
- (archaic) An act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy.
- circa 1605, William Shakepeare, Timon of Athens, Act III, scene iii, line 36Give them title, knee, and approbation.
- To make a knee.
- Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line, "the knee of a graph", an inflection point.
- A blow made with the knee; a kneeing.