Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Pokorny Etymon: 1. g̑enu-, g̑neu-   'knee, joint'

Semantic Field(s): Knee

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
English  
Old English: cnēo(w) n.str.neut knee GED
cnēowlian vb.wk to kneel W7
Middle English: knee n knee W7
knelen vb to kneel W7
English: diagonal adj re: two nonadjacent vertices of polygonal figure AHD/W7
geniculate adj bent at angle, like bent knee AHD/W7
genuflect vb.intrans to bend knee, e.g. in worship AHD/W7
-gon n.sfx closed figure having angles/vertices AHD/W7
goniometer n instrument for measuring angles AHD/W7
gonion n point where lower jaw angles upward AHD
knee n joint in middle part of (esp. human) leg AHD/W7
kneel, knelt vb.wk.intrans to bend knee, fall/rest on knee(s) AHD/W7
orthogonal adj mutually perpendicular AHD/W7
polygonum n knotgrass AHD/W7
pycnogonid n sea spider AHD/W7
West Germanic  
Old Frisian: knē, knī, kniu n.str.neut knee GED
Dutch: knie n.fem knee ASD
Old Saxon: kneo, knio n.str.neut knee GED
Old High German: chniu n.str.neut knee GED
kneo, kniu n.neut knee ASD/W7
Middle High German: knie n.neut knee ASD
German: Knie n.neut knee ASD
North Germanic  
Old Norse: kné n.neut knee LRC
Old Icelandic: knē n.str.neut knee GED
Icelandic: knē n.neut knee ASD
Danish: knæ n.neut knee ASD
Swedish: knä n.neut knee ASD
East Germanic  
Gothic: *kniu n.neut knee GED
Italic  
Latin: diagonalis adj from angle to angle W7
geniculatus adj with nodules, bent W7
geniculum n.neut nodule, little knee W7
genū n.neut knee GED
orthogonius adj orthogonal, with straigth angles W7
Late Latin: genuflecto, genuflectere vb to kneel W7
New Latin: -gonum n.sfx of angles W7
polygonum n.neut (genus name for) knotgrass W7
Middle French: orthogonal adj orthogonal, with straight angles W7
Hellenic  
Greek: γνύξ adj on one's knees GED
γνύ-πετος adj sinking to one's knees GED
γόνῠ n.neut knee LRC
gōnia n.fem angle W7
-gōnon afx side W7
diagōnios adj from angle to angle W7
orthogōnios adj orthogonal, with straight angles W7
polygonon n.neut knotgrass W7
πρό-χνυ adj on one's knees GED
Anatolian  
Hittite: genu n knee LRC
Armenian  
Classical Armenian: cunr n knee LRC
Iranian  
Middle Persian: zānūk n knee GED
New Persian: zānū n knee GED
Avestan: fra-šnuš adj with bent knee GED
žanva n.pl knees GED
Indic  
Sanskrit: jā́nu n.masc/neut knee ASD/GED
jñu-bā́dh- adj bending the knees GED
pra-jñuṣ adj with bent knee GED
Tocharian  
Tocharian B: kenīne n.du (two) knees GED
Tocharian A: kanweṃ n.du (two) knees GED

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
afx=affix
du=dual (number)
fem=feminine (gender)
intrans=intransitive
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
neut=neuter (gender)
pl=plural (number)
sfx=suffix
str=strong (inflection)
vb=verb
wk=weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code Citation
AHD=Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD=Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
GED=Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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