Etymology of knee

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

verb

To kneel to. · To poke or strike with the knee. · To move on the knees; to use the knees to move.

noun

In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank. · In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans. · The tarsal joint, uniting the tarsometatarsus and the tibiotarsus (homologous to the human ankle). · The joint uniting the tibiotarsus and the femur, typically hidden beneath plumage.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-der. Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéwom Proto-Germanic *knewą Proto-West Germanic *kneu Old English cnēo Middle English kne English knee Inherited 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 West Frisian knibbel, Low German Knee, Knie, Dutch knie, German Knie, Danish knæ, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk 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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionkneenm
Inherited-form mentioncnēowang
Inherited-form mention*kneugmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*knewągem-pro
Cognate mentionknibbelfy
Cognate mentionKneends
Cognate mentionknienl
Cognate mentionKniede
Cognate mentionknæda
Cognate mentionknäsv
Cognate mention𒄀𒉡hit
Cognate mentiongenūla
Cognate mentionkanweṃxto
Cognate mentionkenitxb
Cognate mentionγόνυgrc · knee
Cognate mentionglincy
Cognate mentionծունրxcl
Cognate mention𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨ae
Cognate mentionजानुsa
Inherited-form mentionkneenenm

This page abbreviates 6 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:kne",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-der.\nProto-Indo-European *ǵnéwom\nProto-Germanic *knewą\nProto-West Germanic *kneu\nOld English cnēo\nMiddle English kne\nEnglish knee\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*ǵnéw-\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*ǵónu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*knewą\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*kneu\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"cnēo\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"kne\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"knee\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"knee\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "kne",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English kne"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "kne"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English kne"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "cnēow"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English cnēow"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*kneu"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *kneu"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*knewą"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *knewą"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*ǵnéw-o-m"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-o-m"
    },
    {
      "name": "lg",
      "args": {
        "1": "thematic"
      },
      "expansion": "thematic"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "knibbel"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian knibbel"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "Knee"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German Knee"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "knie"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch knie"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Knie"
      },
      "expansion": "German Knie"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "knæ"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish knæ"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb,nn",
        "2": "kne"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk kne"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "knä"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish knä"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "hit",
        "2": "𒄀𒉡",
        "tr": "genu"
      },
      "expansion": "Hittite 𒄀𒉡 (genu)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "genū"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin genū"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xto",
        "2": "kanweṃ",
        "pos": "dual"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian A kanweṃ (dual)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "txb",
        "2": "keni",
        "3": "kenī"
      },
      "expansion": "Tocharian B kenī"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "γόνυ",
        "t": "knee"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu, “knee”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "glin",
        "3": "",
        "4": "knee"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh glin (“knee”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xcl",
        "2": "ծունր"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Armenian ծունր (cunr)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ae",
        "2": "𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨"
      },
      "expansion": "Avestan 𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨 (žnum)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "जानु",
        "tr": "jā́nu"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit जानु (jā́nu)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "kneen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English kneen"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:kne",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-der.\nProto-Indo-European *ǵnéwom\nProto-Germanic *knewą\nProto-West Germanic *kneu\nOld English cnēo\nMiddle English kne\nEnglish knee"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*ǵnéw-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵónu"
    ],
    [
      "*knewą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/knewą"
    ],
    [
      "*kneu",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kneu"
    ],
    [
      "cnēo",
      "cneo#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "kne",
      "kne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "kne",
      "kne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "cnēow",
      "cneow#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*kneu",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kneu"
    ],
    [
      "*knewą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/knewą"
    ],
    [
      "*ǵónu",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵónu"
    ],
    [
      "knibbel",
      "knibbel#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "Knee",
      "Knee#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "Knie",
      "Knie#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "knie",
      "knie#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Knie",
      "Knie#German"
    ],
    [
      "knæ",
      "knæ#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "kne#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "kne",
      "kne#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "knä",
      "knä#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "𒄀𒉡",
      "𒄀𒉡#Hittite"
    ],
    [
      "genū",
      "genu#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "kanweṃ",
      "kanweṃ#Tocharian_A"
    ],
    [
      "kenī",
      "keni#Tocharian_B"
    ],
    [
      "γόνυ",
      "γόνυ#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "γωνία",
      "γωνία#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "glin",
      "glin#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "ծունր",
      "ծունր#Old_Armenian"
    ],
    [
      "𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨",
      "𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨#Avestan"
    ],
    [
      "जानु",
      "जानु#Sanskrit"
    ],
    [
      "kneen",
      "kneen"
    ],
    [
      "kneen",
      "kneen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "knen",
      "knen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "kneon",
      "kneon#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "kneuwene",
      "kneuwene#Middle_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To kneel to.",
        "To poke or strike with the knee.",
        "To move on the knees; to use the knees to move."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "transitive",
        "reflexive"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 24867
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.",
        "In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans.",
        "The tarsal joint, uniting the tarsometatarsus and the tibiotarsus (homologous to the human ankle).",
        "The joint uniting the tibiotarsus and the femur, typically hidden beneath plumage."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "93893f2519376f1c71d593bfffd508e08facc7a74ba3c1b251136e585328f952",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 24866
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    "lexicalSenses": 6,
    "glosses": 0
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}

The source etymologies

Unnumbered source etymology

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