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Genuflect
//ˈd͡ʒɛn.jʊ.flɛkt// verb
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To bend the knee, as in servitude. archaic, intransitive
- 2 bend the knees and bow in a servile manner wordnet
- 3 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. intransitive
"At high Mass the deacon and subdeacon stand on either side, genuflect too, and answer."
- 4 bend the knees and bow in church or before a religious superior or image wordnet
- 5 To behave in a servile manner; to grovel. figuratively, intransitive
"Certainly, the megalomaniacs who aim to populate municipal fixtures with registered-trademark logos will expect cities to genuflect at every turn."
Etymology
PIE word *ǵónu From around 1620–1630 from Medieval Latin genūflectō (“I bend the knee”) equivalent to the Latin genū (“knee”) + flectō (“to bend”).
See also for "genuflect"
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