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) |
