English → Latin
“knee” in Latin
genū̆a knee, kneejoint, kneepan; an elbow; an act of kneeling or beseechinggeniculumlittle knee, knee; knot or joint on the stalk of a plantprōcumbōto fall forward; to sink down; to prostrate (oneself)
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
knee
genu (PROP.): geniculum (IMPROP., any knee-like bending; e.g., joint or knot in reeds, etc.). To bend the knee, genua flectere (general term); genua (flexa) submittere (as a mark of reverence); before anybody, alicui: to fall on one’s knees, in genua procumbere, also, procumbere only (whether unintentionally or not): to sink down on one’s knees, in genua subsidere (Curt.): to fall or throw one’s self at anybody’s knees, alicui procumbere: ad genua alicujus procumbere: ad genua alicui, or genibus alicujus accidere, or se advolvere (Liv.; Cic., uses pedes rather than genua; e.g., alicui ad pedes or ad alicujus pedes procumbere, accidere, se projicere, etc.); prosternere se et supplicari alicui (all as suppliant): genua alicui ponere et eum venerari: humi procumbentem venerari aliquem: also, venerari aliquem only (to show him reverence): to lie at anybody’s knees, supplicem esse alicui; ad pedes jacere alicui (Cic., Verr., 2, 5, 49): to embrace anybody’s knees, alicujus genua amplecti or prehensare. To kneel upon one’s knee, genu niti.
Knee of timber, geniculus: versura (Vitr.): *erenu ligneum.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for knee?
- The usual Latin words for “knee” are genū̆, geniculum, prōcumbō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.