prostrate
verb
- to spread out face down
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L313591 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɒstɹeɪt/ / /ˈpɹɑstɹeɪt/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English prostrat(e) (“prostrate”, also used as the past participle of prostraten), borrowed from Latin prōstrātus, perfect passive participle of prōsternō (“to prostrate”). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.
- Lying flat, face-down.
“Prostrate fall / Before him reverent, and there confess / Humbly our faults.”
“Finally almost the whole world was combined against the evil-doers, who are now prostrate before us.”
- Emotionally devastated.
- Physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease.
“He was prostrate from the extreme heat.”
- Trailing on the ground; procumbent.
- Prostrated.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English prostraten (“(reflexive) to prostrate; (with doun) to fall down in a state of humility or submission”), from prostrat(e) (“prostrate, prostrated”, also used as the past participle of prostraten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin prōstrātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
- To lie flat or face-down.
- To throw oneself down in submission.
“Those who had the privilege of approaching him, had to prostrate themselves before him in profound humility[…]”
“But I take the view that the statue is a cheap and cynical stunt by ministers with scant knowledge of history, whose only interest lies in greasing up to modern Indian politicians. With little or no dignity, they shamelessly prostrate themselves in the most craven way.”
- To cause to lie down, to flatten.
“How many of these mighty pines were to be prostrated under that approaching tempest!”
- To overcome or overpower.
“Why this very minute she's prostrated with grief.”