Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “prostrate” come from?

Prostrate comes from Latin prostratus, the past participle of prosterno (to throw forward), from the prefix pro- (forward) combined with a root ultimately descended from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós.

prostrate (English): Lying flat, face-down; Emotionally devastated;...

Definitions

  1. Lying flat, face-down; Emotionally devastated;...

Ancestry of “prostrate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinprostratusprostrated; overthrown, subverted, undermined
2LatinprosternoI strew in front of; I prostrate, knock down,...
3Latinprō-—
4Proto-Italic*pro-—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
7Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “prostrate”

  • prostrateth
  • deprostrate
  • prostrater
  • prostrately
  • prostratest
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →