Today's Word "Kowtow"
Published in Vocabulary
kowtow \KAW-taw\ (verb) - 1 : To prostrate oneself or touch one's head to the ground in complete submission to someone else; 2 : to servilely and obsequiously comply with the wishes and demands of someone or something.
"'I ain't going to kowtow to her, mind,' said Granny. 'You never kowtow to anyone anyway,' said Nanny Ogg patiently. 'You never bowed to the old king.'" -- Terry Pratchett, 'Lords and Ladies'
Today's word comes from Mandarin Chinese kou tou "a kowtow" from kou "to strike" + tou "head," meaning prostrate genuflection before a potentate or religious shrine. It demonstrated absolute surrender of one's will to that of someone highly respected.
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