kneeling
/ˈniːlɪŋ/noun, verb
kneeling is spelled K-N-E-E-L-I-N-G: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kneeling means “The act by which someone kneels” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kneeling is kneelings.
How many letters and syllables are in kneeling?
| Letters | 8: K-N-E-E-L-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is kneeling?
Kneeling appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th 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 kneeling?
- /ˈniːlɪŋ/
Kneeling has 2 syllables (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: En-us-kneeling.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of kneeling
- kneelings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kneeling mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act by which someone kneels.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of kneel
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does kneeling come from?
From Middle English knelinge, kneweling, kneolunge, equivalent to kneel + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).