different between genuflect vs kneel

English

Etymology

From around 1620–1630 from Medieval Latin gen?flect? (“I bend the knee”) equivalent to the Latin gen? (“knee”) + flect? (“to bend”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /?d??n.j?.fl?kt/

Verb

genuflect (third-person singular simple present genuflects, present participle genuflecting, simple past and past participle genuflected)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To bend the knee, as in servitude.
2. (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.
   • 1913, Adrian Fortescue, Catholic Encyclopedia, "Gospel in the Liturgy"

     At high Mass the deacon and subdeacon stand on either side, genuflect too, and answer.

   • 1965, Tom Lehrer, The Vatican Rag

     First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries, / Bow your head with great respect and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.

Usage notes

The brief manner of touching one knee to the ground while genuflecting differs from the duration typically associated with kneeling down onto one or two knees.

Related terms

• genuflection
• genuflector

Translations

References

• genuflect at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Middle English knelen, knewlen, from Old English cn?owlian (“to kneel”), equivalent to knee +? -le. Cognate with Dutch knielen (“to kneel”), Low German knelen (“to kneel”), dialectal German knielen, kneulen, knülen (“to kneel”), Danish knæle (“to kneel”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?l, IPA^(key): /ni?l/
• Rhymes: -i?l
• Homophones: Neal, Neil, Niel

Verb

kneel (third-person singular simple present kneels, present participle kneeling, simple past and past participle knelt or kneeled)

1. (intransitive) To rest on one's bent knees, sometimes only one; to move to such a position.

   • When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped?; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, and her pretty little Alsatian maid beside her, laying a log across the andirons.

2. (transitive) To cause to kneel.

   She knelt the doll to fit it into the box.
3. (reflexive, archaic) To rest on (one's) knees

   He knelt him down to pray.

Hyponyms

• kneel down, genuflect

Derived terms

• kneeler

Translations

References

• kneel in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• kneel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• kneel at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• K?len