genu Latin · revision 5866

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Lex regia|origins=ine-pro *ǵónu}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈɡɛ.nuː], [ˈɡɛ.nʊ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈd͡ʒɛː.nu]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''genū̆''' ''n'' (genitive genūs or genū); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*genu]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ǵónu|t=knee]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs a paradigm with nominative *ǵon-u and genitive *ǵen-u-s or *ǵn-eu-s, and a dual *ǵen-uh₁ “both knees”.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|γόνυ|tr=gónu]], [[sa|जानु|tr=jā́nu]], [[ae|zānu-]], [[hit|genu-]], [[sga|glún]] and [[en|knee]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Isidore of Seville said the knees were so called because in the womb they lie against the cheeks, [[gena|alt=genae]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's first citation is a royal law, ''lex regia'', which forbids lifting a man killed by lightning above the knees.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan dates it in literature from Livius Andronicus, whom Köbler dates 280/260 to before 200 BC.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant the knee of a person or the corresponding joint of an animal, and in Pliny the Elder a knot or joint in the stem of a plant.^(OLD 2012) Bending the knee was a sign of supplication and respect, as Cicero's ''genū terram tangere'', to touch the ground with the knee.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(DMLBS) The oldest texts mostly use the plural ''genua''; forms ''genus'' and ''genum'' also occur.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it also meant a degree of kinship.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Regal period – A royal law speaks of the knees of a man struck by lightning.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the joints of plants.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It is used of a degree of kinship.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|knee]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The corresponding joint of an animal.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A knot or [[m|en|joint]] in the stem of a plant.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A degree of kinship.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[geniculum]]

+ * [[genūflectō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gena]]

+ * [[en|genuflect]]

+ * [[en|knee]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}