Prostrator
/prɒˈstreɪ.tər/noun
A person or thing that prostrates or lays something flat; in older Latin, one who knocks down or throws prone.
Did you know?In Latin, *prostrator* comes from *prosternere*, a violent verb meaning “to cast down, overthrow, or lay flat,” so the word carries the physical image of being brought to the ground rather than any modern spiritual sense.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ster-
“to spread, stretch out, make flat”
Latin
Latin
sternere
“to spread out, lay low, strew”
Latin
Latin
prosternere
“to throw down, overthrow, lay flat”
Latin
Latin
prostrator
“one who throws down; an overthrower”
Middle English
English
prostratour / prostrator
“one who prostrates or lays low”
Modern English
English
prostrator
“a person or thing that prostrates or lays flat”