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kowtow - 5 dictionary results

kow⋅tow

[kou-tou, -tou, koh-]
–verb (used without object)
1. to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.
2. to touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology, etc., esp. in former Chinese custom.
–noun
3. the act of kowtowing.
Also, kotow.


Origin:
1795–1805; < Chin kòutóu lit., knock (one's) head


kowtower, noun
kow·tow   (kou-tou', kou'tou')   
intr.v.   kow·towed, kow·tow·ing, kow·tows
  1. To kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in China.
  2. To show servile deference. See Synonyms at fawn1.
n.  
  1. The act of kneeling and touching the forehead to the ground.
  2. An obsequious act.

[From Chinese (Mandarin) kòu tóu, a kowtow : kòu, to knock + tóu, head.]

Kowtow

Kow*tow"\, n. & v. i. The same as Kotow.

I have salaamed and kowtowed to him. --H. James.

kowtow 
1804 (n.), from Chinese k'o-t'ou custom of touching the ground with the forehead to show respect or submission, lit. "knock the head," from k'o "knock, bump" + t'ou "head." The verb in the fig. sense of "act in an obsequious manner" is from 1826.

kowtow

in traditional China, the act of supplication made by an inferior to his superior by kneeling and knocking his head to the floor. This prostration ceremony was most commonly used in religious worship, by commoners who came to make a request of the local district magistrate, and by officials and representatives of foreign powers who came into the presence of the emperor. By the Ming period (1368-1644), the ritual, especially as made to the shrine of Confucius by the emperor and to the emperor by his officials and foreign envoys, involved "three kneelings and nine prostrations."

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