Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
scrape, kowtow, genuflect
(verb) bend the knees and bow in a servile manner
genuflect
(verb) bend the knees and bow in church or before a religious superior or image
Source: WordNet® 3.1
genuflect (third-person singular simple present genuflects, present participle genuflecting, simple past and past participle genuflected)
(intransitive, archaic) To bend the knee, as in servitude.
(intransitive) To briefly touch one knee to the ground, typically associated with religious worship.
(intransitive, figurative) To behave in a servile manner; to grovel.
Source: Wiktionary
Gen`u*flect", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Genuflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Genuflecting.] Etym: [See Genuflection.]
Definition: To bend the knee, as in worship.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 May 2025
(noun) the property of being directional or maintaining a direction; “the directionality of written English is from left to right”
Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.