Word
Genuflect
To lower one knee in worship or respect; figuratively, to defer too readily to a person or power
Examples
Catholics genuflect toward the reserved Eucharist as a sign of adoration.
To say a court genuflects to a ruler is to accuse it of surrendering its independence.
Origin
From Late Latin genuflectere, “to bend the knee,” formed from genu, “knee,” and flectere, “to bend.” English adopted the verb in the 1600s. Its political sense turns a physical act of reverence into a metaphor for excessive deference.
How it connects
The word names a knee bent in reverence, and the metaphor of surrendering independence too readily.
This word appeared in When the body speaks, the Involves connection for August 7, 2026, which asked: Why can kneeling say what words cannot?
Check yourself
What does it mean to genuflect?
To lower one knee in worship or respect, or figuratively to defer too readily to a person or power.. Right. Literally one knee; figuratively, deference that can tip into surrender.
What the sources establish
Genuflect derives from Late Latin genuflectere, “to bend the knee,” from genu, “knee,” and flectere, “to bend.”
Sources
genuflection (Online Etymology Dictionary), Entry for “genuflection”: Latin genu and flectere; figurative deference