knee
The joint connecting the thigh and lower leg.
Etymology
From Old English cnēo, from Proto-Germanic *knewą, from PIE *ǵónu "knee, angle." The PIE palatal *ǵ- became *k- in the centum languages (including Germanic), yielding Proto-Germanic *k-. The initial k was originally pronounced in "knee" — the silent k in modern English is a fossil of this ancient PIE sound, which speakers stopped pronouncing around the 17th century.
The Journey: *ǵónu → knee
*ǵónu
*knewą
cnēo
kne
knee
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *ǵónu. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | gónu |
| Latin | genū |
| Hittite | genu |
| Sanskrit | jā́nu |
| Tocharian A | kanweṃ |
Did You Know?
The silent k in "knee" was once pronounced. English speakers stopped saying it around the 17th century, but it survives in spelling as a trace of the original PIE *ǵ- sound.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵónu. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.