genuflecto

Forms

genūflectō (present infinitive genūflectere, perfect active genūflexī, supine genūflexum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin genū (“knee”) + flectō (“to bend”), “to bend the knee”.^[1] The TLL notes that it grew together from the phrase ⟨genu flecto⟩, as the nouns genūflexiō and ⟨genuflexus⟩ show, and that it is also written separated, ⟨genu flecto⟩.^[2] It renders Ancient Greek γονυκλινέω (gonuklinéō).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hilary of Poitiers uses it of the Magi kneeling before the child in the cradle.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is a word of Christian Latin, used of kneeling in worship.^[2] The Vulgate has it when all are to kneel before Joseph, Jerome of everything kneeling to Christ, and Augustine of going to church each day to kneel and seek the Lord.^[2] Gregory the Great uses it of Gideon's soldiers who knelt to drink.^[2] In Medieval Latin it also meant simply to kneel down, as a falconer does,^[5] or to fall to one's knees.^[5]

English genuflect (1620s) is a back-formation from genuflection.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 315–367/368 – Hilary of Poitiers uses it of the Magi.^[2][4]
• c. 383–419/420 – Jerome uses it of kneeling to Christ.^[2][4]
• 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it in Genesis.^[2][4]
• 354–430 – Augustine speaks of kneeling daily in church.^[2][4]
• 1620s – English forms genuflect.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Late Latin) To kneel, bend the knee, especially in worship; to genuflect.^[2][7][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) To fall to one's knees.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson