1. People were genuflecting in front of the altar.

2. Synonyms for Curtsying include bobbing, genuflecting, bowing, greeting, kneeling, stooping, bending the knee, dropping a curtsy, salaaming and kowtowing

3. Curtseying, bowing from the waist, genuflecting, and bowing the head alone are all diminished variations of kneeling--minor-league kneelings, as it were, mini-kneelings, gestures toward kneeling--but all as a family are acts of reverence, awe, gratitude, supplication, and submission before the presence or idea or sign of the Creator.