genou

Inherited from Old French genouz, genoilz plural of genoil, from Late Latin genuculum, alteration of Latin geniculum, diminutive of genū (“knee”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu. Cognate with Bourguignon genô, Occitan genolh.

• IPA^(key): /ʒə.nu/

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• Homophone: genoux

genou m (plural genoux)

1. knee
2. lap

Only seven words in French ending in -ou have their plurals in -oux instead of -ous: bijou, caillou, chou, genou, hibou, joujou, pou.

• agenouiller
• genouillère
• mou du genou

• Esperanto: genuo

• “genou”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

genou m (plural genoux)

1. Alternative form of g'nou