From the Latin words genu, meaning "knee," and flectere, meaning "to bend " A genuflection is a sort of deep curtsey where the right knee touches the ground The appropriate times for genuflection (if you do it at all) are when passing before the Reserved Sacrament, when entering or leaving your pew when the consecrated bread and wine are on the altar, and in the Nicene Creed at the words, "who for us and our salvation "