What's behind a knee?

[Senior]

Possibly a weird question, but my dictionary fails me here.

I need to know the English word for the part of the leg opposed to the knee. I suppose it's something like 'knee hole', 'knee hollow', 'knee bow' or 'knee rear' but I need to be sure.

Who can help me?
Greetings,

Senior

[androl]

That's really not an often used word, but I think I know the German word, "Kniekehle"

http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ translates it as "hollow of the knee"

[N0W1K]

I Spanish we name it Corva, and my dictionary tells that corva in english is: back of the knee....

Maybe it doesn't have any special name in English......

[bocky]

After searching for a while, I found this. Probably there isn't a word for that in English, but as said in that article, it can be called the "popliteal area", although it seems that this expression is only used by doctors...

Also, in that site, someone says:

I can't offer an English word for Kniekehle other than maybe 'knee-hollow'. The medics have an adjective for it (popliteal).

If you search "popliteal area" on Google, you'll find many sites refering to the part of the leg you're talking about, like this one:

Too much pressure on the popliteal area (the soft tissue area behind the knee) from the seat pan.

In portuguese we don't have a word for it.

[Fons]

knieholte in Dutch (?), but I think in English it would be somethink like 'knee hole' like you said before....

[Senior]

After reading your comments I suppose the best translation will be 'knee-hollow'. To make sure I'll wait till I got some comment from some native speaker or a teacher of English.
Thank you very much for your help so far!
Greetings,

Senior


EDIT: yes, it's 'knieholte' in Dutch.

[Fons]

After reading your comments I suppose the best translation will be 'knee-hollow'. To make sure I'll wait till I got some comment from some native speaker or a teacher of English.
Thank you very much for your help so far!
Greetings,

Senior


EDIT: yes, it's 'knieholte' in Dutch.

Did you look in a Dutch-English Dictionary?

[Fjon]

There isn't a "regular" word for it. There may be a medical term for it, but unfortunatlely if you were talking about it as a regular person you would probably just call it "that part behind your knee"

[Senior]

@ Fons:
Of course! It said "look at knieboog". But then they forgot to add knieboog to the dictionary...

@ fjon:
I need a short term. Would 'knee-hollow' do?
Greetings,

Senior

[Fjon]

@ Fons:
Of course! It said "look at knieboog". But then they forgot to add knieboog to the dictionary...

@ fjon:
I need a short term. Would 'knee-hollow' do?
Greetings,

Senior

I guess you could use it, and the person reading it would probably understand what is meant. However it will look a bit "unprofessional". You know like those Dutch manuals you get that look like they have been translated directlly from English by a non-native speaker?

[Senior]

@ fjon:

I see. So it shouldn't be 'knee-hollow'. But your suggestion 'that part behind your knee' doesn't sound all that professional either... And a medical term doesn't fit in the book I'm writing. What's your best suggestion?
Greetings,

Senior

[lmviterbo]

In portuguese we don't have a word for it.

Oh yes we do, although it's not very commonly used for humans. The word is "jarrete" (from the French jarret, from the Gaulish *garra 'leg'). In fact, on horses and oxen the word isn't used for the back of the knee but for its tendons (hamstrings in humans, in English).

Now for the English expression: if you look for "hamstring" on Onelook, you'll find that all definitions place these tendons at the {(space) back | (rear) hollow} of (the human | a person's) knee. No dictionary mentions any simple or compounded word like *knee-hollow.

And for popliteal space (better: popliteal fossa), there's no simpler expression on MedTerms or any other dictionary. (In fact, to be strict, this is the space between the two prominent tendons, not the whole back of the knee.)

The Webster's Unabridged and Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionaries mislead you into believing that "hough" (pronounced hok) is "the popliteal space; the ham". It seems to be an archaic word, and in fact Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary is clear: "The lower part of the thigh; the ham; the joint of the hind leg of a beast that connects the thigh with the leg." I believe this means that the word is only for animals.

So I would bet my first long-anticipated hit as NOW1K is right: just write "back of the knee".

[N0W1K]

Oh yes we do, although it's not very commonly used for humans. The word is "jarrete" (from the French jarret, from the Gaulish *garra 'leg'). In fact, on horses and oxen the word isn't used for the back of the knee but for its tendons (hamstrings in humans, in English).

We have too the word Jarrete and I think is only for animals...

The explanation that Lmviterbo gave is the same here in Spain

All right some humans are like animals.... but this isn't the case

Please Senior, tell us if you find the correct expression or word

[Fjon]

So I would bet my first long-anticipated hit as NOW1K is right: just write "back of the knee".

Unfortunately I would tend to agree. The word simply does not exist, and any attempt to make one up is just not going to sound right. I would definitely say "back of the knee" if I had to.

[Senior]

And thus it was decided: to mention the back of the knee thou shalt use the words 'back of the knee'!

Thank you all for your help.
Greetings,

Senior