The term genuflect, which refers to the act of kneeling to show respect, was first coined by poet John Taylor in a collection of writings from 1630. The word was derived from the earlier noun genuflection, which dates back about a hundred years earlier. Its origins can be traced back to Medieval Latin genuflectionem, ultimately stemming from Latin genuflectere, meaning “bend the knee”, formed by the words for “knee”, genu, and “bend”, flectere. The term genu, also a rare anatomical term in English, can be linked to a Proto-Indo-European root with the same spelling meaning “angle”. On the other hand, flectere, found in words like deflect, reflect, and flex, is believed to have originated from Proto-Italic flekto, with unknown Proto-Indo-European origins. The usage of genuflect peaked in literature in the late 1940s and has since declined significantly.
