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genuflect

 - 2 dictionary results

gen⋅u⋅flect

  [jen-yoo-flekt]
Use genuflect in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to bend the knee or touch one knee to the floor in reverence or worship.
2. to express a servile attitude.
Origin:
1620–30; < ML genūflectere to bend the knee, equiv. to L genū-, s. of genu knee + flectere to bend

Related forms:
gen⋅u⋅flec⋅tor, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To genuflect
gen·u·flect   (jěn'yə-flěkt')   
intr.v.   gen·u·flect·ed, gen·u·flect·ing, gen·u·flects

  1. To bend the knee or touch one knee to the floor or ground, as in worship.

  2. To be servilely respectful or deferential; grovel.


[Late Latin genūflectere : Latin genū, knee; see genu-1 in Indo-European roots + Latin flectere, to bend.]
gen'u·flec'tion (-flěk'shən) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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