English
prostrate
Prostrate comes from Latin prōstrātus ‘prostrated’, from sternō ‘to spread, stretch out, spread out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-‘to spread, extend, stretch out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*str̥néh₃ti‘to strew’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stornōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternō‘to spread, stretch out, spread out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōsternō‘to prostrate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōstrātus‘prostrated’perfect passive participle of prōsternō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prostrat(e)
- Englishearliest quotation 1667prostrate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sterh₃-‘to spread, extend, stretch out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*str̥néh₃ti‘to strew’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stornōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsternō‘to spread, stretch out, spread out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōsternō‘to prostrate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōstrātus‘prostrated’perfect passive participle of prōsternō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prostrat(e)
- Englishearliest quotation 1667prostrate
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book IX: “Prostrate fall / Before him reverent, and there confess…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- ‘to spread, extend, stretch out’
street, straw, strand, sternum, stratus, stroma, substratum, 9 more
through Latin sternō ‘to spread, stretch out, spread out’
Another origin of prostrate
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōstrātus‘prostrated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prostrat‘prostrate, prostrated’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500prostraten‘(reflexive) to prostrate’
- Englishtodayprostrate
Today it means
adj Lying flat, face-down.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- / prostrate