genuflect

American

[jen-yoo-flekt] / ˈdʒɛn yʊˌflɛkt /

verb (used without object)

to bend the knee or touch one knee to the floor in reverence or worship.
to express a servile attitude.

genuflect British

/ ˈdʒɛnjʊˌflɛkt /

verb

to act in a servile or deferential manner
RC Church to bend one or both knees as a sign of reverence, esp when passing before the Blessed Sacrament

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

genuflection noun
genuflector noun

Etymology

Origin of genuflect

1620–30; < Medieval Latin genūflectere to bend the knee, equivalent to Latin genū-, stem of genu knee + flectere to bend

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023