web examples:
• When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. (1 Sam. 24:8)
• Thereupon the vizier prostrated himself before him and said, 'O king, may God prolong thy life!'
• When the procession reached the palace the chief of police prostrated himself at the feet of the Sultan, and related all that he knew of the matter.
• At the call of the muezzin from the golden minarets of the mosques all over the Islamic world, hundreds of millions turn toward Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet of Islam, and prostrate themselves in humility before their Creator.
• They are separated because of tradition, so men and women don't prostrate themselves in front of one another during prayer.
• An activist prostrated himself on the road preventing the traffic and had to be moved out physically by the police. (India)
• These days, with the preparation culture in international rugby so ferociously stern, anybody not prostrating himself at the squad altar is seen as some kind of wastrel and heretic. (Sunday Times, London)
• For to identify with pacifism during the 1930s meant prostrating oneself in the face of the Nazis' malevolent political designs.
• All this time, while local dignitaries were prostrating themselves before Samsung functionaries on two continents, maybe they also should have been consulting with multiparty South Korean opposition groups that have been trying to put an end to the political and business corruption seemingly endemic to the country's economy. (Austin, Texas)
• the individual School Board members who placed their personal and professional reputations on the line by prostrating themselves before commissioners to beg for support (Orlando, Florida)
Sujud (Sajdah)
The prostration position in prayer, with forehead, nose, hands, knees, and toes all touching the ground
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam...Afterwards he prostrates placing the forehead, nose and palms on the ground, (fig. 4a), with knees bent
http://muslim-canada.org/ch15hamid.html#service_________________
It's true that 'to prostrate oneself' traditionally described a physical demonstration of absolute submission to a ruler and as such is now mostly obsolete in actual practice except in a few church rituals such as the one REV mentions. However, it's still obviously found in historical texts, as well as figuratively in the sense of self-abasement.
Most English speakers probably envision the word to mean full prostration, that is, lying face down on the floor stretched out at full length, with the entire front of the body touching the floor. However, the term is apparently also used to translate the partial prostration done from the kneeling position in Islamic worship. If that's correct, it's probably a fast-growing usage of the word.
