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prostrate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
prostrate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
prostrate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
Latin prōstrātus, past participle of prōsternere (“to prostrate”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
prostrate (not comparable)
- Lying flat, face-down.
- Synonym: prone
- Antonym: supine
1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:Prostrate fall / Before him reverent, and there confess / Humbly our faults.
- 1945, Sir Winston Churchill, VE Day speech from House of Commons:
- Finally almost the whole world was combined against the evil-doers, who are now prostrate before us.
- (figuratively) Emotionally devastated.
- Physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease.
He was prostrate from the extreme heat.
- (botany) Trailing on the ground; procumbent.
Translations
physically incapacitated from environmental exposure or debilitating disease
botany: trailing on the ground; procumbent
— see procumbentVerb
prostrate (third-person singular simple present prostrates, present participle prostrating, simple past and past participle prostrated)
- (often reflexive) To lie flat or face-down.
- (also figurative) To throw oneself down in submission.
1922, Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization, page 228:Those who had the privilege of approaching him, had to prostrate themselves before him in profound humility […]
- To cause to lie down, to flatten.
- (figuratively) To overcome or overpower.
Usage notes
- Prostrate and prostate are often confused, in spelling if not in meaning.
Related terms
Translations
to throw oneself down in submission
See also
Anagrams
Italian
Etymology 1
Verb
prostrate
- inflection of prostrare:
- second-person plural present indicative
- second-person plural imperative
Etymology 2
Participle
prostrate f pl
- feminine plural of prostrato
Latin
Participle
prōstrāte
- vocative masculine singular of prōstrātus