verb (used without object)
- to bend the knee or touch one knee to the floor in reverence or worship.
- to express a servile attitude.
verb (intr)
- to act in a servile or deferential manner
- RC Church to bend one or both knees as a sign of reverence, esp when passing before the Blessed Sacrament
1620s, back-formation from genuflection. Related: Genuflected; genuflecting.