overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

knee.

In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/niː/UK/ni/US/kniː/Early, Modern
  1. In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.

    Penny was wearing a miniskirt, so she skinned her exposed knees when she fell.
  2. In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans.

  3. In birds: The tarsal joint, uniting the tarsometatarsus and the tibiotarsus (homologous to the human ankle).

  4. In birds: The joint uniting the tibiotarsus and the femur, typically hidden beneath plumage.

  5. The part of a garment that covers the knee.

  6. A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent.

  7. An act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy.

    archaic
  8. Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line; an inflection point.

    the knee of a graph
  9. A blow made with the knee; a kneeing.

  10. The presence of a parent etc., where a young child acquires early knowledge.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-der. Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéwom Proto-Germanic *knewą Proto-West Germanic *kneu Old English cnēo Middle English kne English knee 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.

verb/niː/UK/ni/US/kniː/Early, Modern
  1. To kneel to.

    archaic · transitive
  2. To poke or strike with the knee.

    transitive
    When I blocked her from leaving, she kneed me in the groin.
  3. To move on the knees; to use the knees to move.

    reflexive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-der. Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéwom Proto-Germanic *knewą Proto-West Germanic *kneu Old English cnēo Middle English kne English knee 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.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

knee has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

knee studioknee workshello, knee

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.