Why does a person get down on bended knee?

Marriage? Something else? What is the symbolism of doing so?

I've never been engaged or married, or asked a woman to get married, or been to a wedding, so the whole thing is a totally foreign concept and I don't see why the 'bended knee' bit is supposed to be important.

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hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

prayer

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@hippyjoe1955 Except a marriage proposal isn't a prayer. I didn't know it was convention to get down on one knee to pray.

DrWatson · 70-79, M

@zonavar68

Actually, the original meaning of "pray" was simply "ask", not necessarily of God.

For example, "I pray thee, cease thy counsel", is one of many instances when Shakespeare uses the word that way. This old tradition of kneeling when asking for a woman's hand fits the old meaning of prayer.