From Middle English _kne_, from Old English _cnēo_, from Proto-Germanic _*knewą_ (compare Low German _Knee_, Dutch _knie_, German _Knie_, Danish _knæ_, Swedish _knä_), from Proto-Indo-European _*ǵnéwo-_, a thematic derivative of Proto-Indo-European _*ǵónu_. Compare Hittite

* (UK) enPR: nē, IPA(key): /niː/ * (US) IPA(key): /ni/ * Rhymes: -iː * Homophone: nee

KNEE (_plural_ KNEES _or_ KNEEN) * 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._ * In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans. * The part of a garment that covers the knee. * (shipbuilding) A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent. * 1980, Richard W. Unger, _The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600_, page 41 Deck beams were supported by hanging KNEES, triangular pieces of wood typically found underneath the timbers they are designed to support, but in this case found above them. * (archaic) An act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy. * _circa_ 1605, William Shakepeare, _Timon of Athens_, Act III, scene iii, line 36 Give them title, KNEE, and approbation. _To make a KNEE._ * Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line, "the knee of a graph", an inflection point. * A blow made with the knee; a kneeing. DERIVED TERMS * down on one's knees * kneecap * kneejerk * kneel * kneepan * kneesies * knees-up TRANSLATIONS

KNEE (_third-person singular simple present_ KNEES, _present participle_ KNEEING, _simple past and past participle_ KNEED) * (transitive, archaic) To kneel to. * 1605: I could as well be brought / To KNEE his throne and, squire-like, pension beg / To keep base life afoot. — William Shakespeare, _King Lear_ II.ii * (transitive) To poke or strike with the knee.

* keen