to go down on one knee or both knees, especially in order to pray, show respect, or submit.
Everyone was asked to kneel during the prayer.
The boy knelt down to tie his shoelace.
✦ From Middle English knelen, from Old English cnēowlian (“to kneel”), from Proto-West Germanic *kneulijan, from Proto-Germanic *knewlijaną (“to kneel”), equivalent to knee + -le (“frequentative”). Cognate with Dutch knielen (“to kneel”).
