knee

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
  2. noun joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped; corresponds to the human knee
  3. noun the part of a trouser leg that provides the cloth covering for the knee

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English kne, from Old English cnēow, from Proto-West Germanic *kneu, from Proto-Germanic *knewą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-o-m, a thematic derivative of *ǵónu. See also West Frisian knibbel, Low German Knee, Knie, Dutch knie, German Knie, Danish knæ, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk kne, Swedish knä; also Hittite 𒄀𒉡 (genu), Latin genū, Tocharian A kanweṃ (dual), Tocharian B kenī, Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu, “knee”), γωνία (gōnía, “corner, angle”), Welsh glin (“knee”), Old Armenian ծունր (cunr), Avestan 𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨 (žnum), Sanskrit जानु (jā́nu). The obsolete plural kneen is from Middle English kneen, knen, kneon, kneuwene.

In classic literature

Synonyms

knee joint, human knee, articulatio genus, genu

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