GENUFLECTION

Genuflection

Genuflection, bending at least one knee to the ground, was from early times a gesture of deep respect for a superior. In 328 BC, Alexander the Great introduced into his court etiquette some form of genuflection already in use in Persia. In the Byzantine Empire even senators were required to genuflect to the emperor. In medieval Europe, one demonstrated respect for a king or noble by going down on one knee, often remaining there until told to rise. It is traditionally often performed in western cultures by a male making a proposal of marriage, which is about the only remaining secular use in the West. More recently the gesture is mostly restricted to Catholic ...

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genuflection

Noun

  1. the act of genuflecting


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: genuflection
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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