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genuflection

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gen⋅u⋅flec⋅tion

  [jen-yoo-flek-shuhn]
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–noun
an act of bending the knee or touching it to the ground in reverence or worship.
Also, especially British, gen⋅u⋅flex⋅ion.

Origin:
1520–30; < ML genūflexiōn- (s. of genūflexiō). See genuflect, -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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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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Word Origin & History

genuflection 
1526, from L.L. genuflectionem (nom. genuflexio), from stem of genuflectere "genuflect," from L. genu "knee" (cf. Skt. janu, Gk. gonu, Goth. kniu, O.E. cneo) + flectere "to bend."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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