geniculum

English

Noun

geniculum (plural genicula)

1. A small genu, or angular knee-like structure, especially (anatomy) a sharp knee-like bend in a small structure or organ.

Latin

Alternative forms

• geniculus

Etymology

From genū (“knee”) +‎ -culum (dimunitive nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɡeˈni.ku.lum/, [ɡɛˈnɪkʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒeˈni.ku.lum/, [d͡ʒeˈniːkulum]

Noun

geniculum n (genitive geniculī); second declension

1. Diminutive of genū:
   1. (literally) little knee, knee
   2. (transferred sense, botany) knot or joint on the stalk of a plant

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	geniculum	genicula
Genitive	geniculī	geniculōrum
Dative	geniculō	geniculīs
Accusative	geniculum	genicula
Ablative	geniculō	geniculīs
Vocative	geniculum	genicula

Derived terms

• aggeniculor
• geniculātim
• geniculātus
• geniculō
• geniculōsus
• ingeniculō

 

Descendants

• Late Latin: genuculum (see there for further descendants)

References

• “geniculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• geniculum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• geniculum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.