Word.ws English Dictionary

Kernig's sign

Kernig's sign proper noun: a physical examination finding in which extension of the knee is painful after flexing parts of the leg, sometimes indicating subarachnoid hemorrhage or meningitis.

Proper noun

Kernig's sign

  1. A physical examination finding in which extension of the knee is painful after flexing parts of the leg, sometimes indicating subarachnoid hemorrhage or meningitis.

Origin of Kernig's sign

Named after Woldemar Kernig (1840–1917), a Russian neurologist.

Questions about Kernig's sign

What does Kernig's sign mean?
Kernig's sign means a physical examination finding in which extension of the knee is painful after flexing parts of the leg, sometimes indicating subarachnoid hemorrhage or meningitis.
What part of speech is Kernig's sign?
Kernig's sign is a proper noun.

Words near Kernig's sign in the dictionary

  1. kernetty
  2. Kerney
  3. Kerneys
  4. kernicteric
  5. kernicterus
  6. Kernig's sign
  7. Kernighan
  8. Kernighan-Lin algorithm
  9. Kernighans
  10. kernikterus
  11. kerning

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Kernig's sign (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Kernig's sign.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kernig%27s_sign. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.