Bowing down is the physical act of worship or supplication that involves a person placing their legs and hands on the ground. It comes from the verb prostrate. This posture is widely used in the field of religion, although formerly it was also performed to venerate kings, rulers or dictators. Today in this area, it is practically in disuse.
The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy indicates that “prostrate” is a pronominal verb whose meaning is to kneel or bow out of respect. Furthermore, it is a singular feminine participle of the verb "prostrate", while the action and effect of this is "prostrate".
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The etymology of this word, for the RAE is disputed, but one of the most cited beliefs is that it comes from Latin, since the original word "prosternere" is composed of "pro", which means "in front"; and "sternere", which means "to extend or expand."
Meaning
Today, generally a person who "prostrates" performs it as a ritual gesture to give a sign of adoration, submission, respect or even supplication. In all cases, it is a gesture towards a being who is supposed to be superior to the one who performs the "prostration", be it a God or saint, but also a King or a master. That is, someone who has greater power.
The parts of the body that touch the ground in the "prostrate" range from the knees to the feet, and the forearms and hands. That is why a “prostrate” is taken as the maximum gesture of adoration or surrender, since almost the entire body touches the ground (as opposed to the kneeling supplication or the simple fact of bowing the head or torso before a person or figure).
There are several religions that take "prostration" as an act of submission or worship. For example, in the Catholic, the "prostrate" is used in the imposition of orders.
In Islam, it is part of the ritual prayer and in each of these will correspond a certain number of "prostrations".
Meanwhile, in Buddhism, a "prostrate" is performed to venerate the Three Jewels of their religion (Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha).
Beyond the religious sphere, street beggars adopt a “prostrate” posture to beg for alms. In addition, the word "prostrate" can be applied as a figure, a metaphor to indicate that a thing that cannot take that position, leans or surrenders itself towards another.
Synonyms
Some words that have a meaning similar to "prostrate" are "kneel", "bow", "come", "adore", "venerate" or "reverence".
Antonyms
Instead, the words that have a meaning opposite to "prostrate" are "rebellion", "disrespect", "ridicule", "disrespect", "snub", "belittle" or "lack".
Usage examples
- "Some specialists maintain that the country is prostrated to the International Monetary Fund."
- "I told you that you should not continue to bow to your boss, who clearly does not deserve it."
- "I bow down to your excellence."
- "When the priest enters you prostrate yourself before him."
- "The supporters prostrate ourselves in the presence of our greatest idol every time he enters the field of play."
- “As a sign of respect for their culture, when the moment of prayer began I prostrated myself like them. If I didn't, I would have felt uncomfortable ”.
- "I would bow down to the King only when he decides to sell all his wealth and hand it over to the poor."
- “Prostrate yourself! Your master has just entered the room ”.
- "You should bow down every time you say your name out loud after everything he did for you."
- "At the time of prayer, all the faithful prostrate themselves."
- "When they gave him such alms, the beggar prostrated himself at the feet of the one who gave it to him."
References
- Prostrate. (2019). Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy. Recovered from: dle.rae.es
- Abu Bakr Yabir. (2013). "The Muslim's Guide." Recovered from: books.google.ba