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PlainSpell

knee

/ni/noun, verb

knee is spelled K-N-E-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, knee means “In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of knee is knees; Wiktionary also lists kneen (dialectal).

How many letters and syllables are in knee?

Letters4: K-N-E-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing21 times per million words; the 4,076th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is knee?

Knee appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce knee?

  • UK /niː/
  • US /ni/
  • /kniː/

Knee has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-nee2.wav, En-us-knee.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-knee.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with knee?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as knee from its last stressed vowel (/i/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: keen.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of knee

  • knees plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • kneeing participle, present
  • kneed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does knee mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.

    Penny was wearing a miniskirt, so she skinned her exposed knees when she fell.

  2. 2

    In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in humans.

  3. 3

    The tarsal joint, uniting the tarsometatarsus and the tibiotarsus (homologous to the human ankle).

  4. 4

    The joint uniting the tibiotarsus and the femur, typically hidden beneath plumage.

  5. 5

    The part of a garment that covers the knee.

  6. 6

    A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent.

  7. 7

    archaicAn act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy.

  8. 8

    Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line; an inflection point.

    the knee of a graph

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo kneel to.

  2. 2

    To poke or strike with the knee.

    When I blocked her from leaving, she kneed me in the groin.

  3. 3

    To move on the knees; to use the knees to move.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Knee in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgenou (joint in the middle of the leg and area around…), s'agenouiller, se mettre à genoux (To kneel to), mettre un coup de genou, donner un coup de genou (To poke or strike with the knee)
GermanKnie (joint in the middle of the leg and area around…), knien (To kneel to), Kniefall (act of kneeling)
Portuguesejoelho (joint in the middle of the leg and area around…)
Spanishrodilla, hinojo (joint in the middle of the leg and area around…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does knee come from?

Inherited from Middle English kne, from Old English cnēow, from Proto-West Germanic *kneu, from Proto-Germanic *knewą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-o-m, a thematic derivative of *ǵónu.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after knee