From either Cantonese 叩頭 /叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) or Mandarin 叩頭 /叩头 (kòutóu). Literally, “knock head”.
Meanings
(intransitive) The act of kowtowing.
Three elders dressed in their long silk ceremonial gowns perform the kowtow before the altar in their clan ancestral hall. 1990, Hugh D. R. Baker, Hong Kong Images: People and Animals, Hong Kong University Press, →ISBN, page 93:
From either Cantonese 叩頭 /叩头 (kau³ tau⁴) or Mandarin 叩頭 /叩头 (kòutóu). Literally, “knock head”.
Meanings
(historical, intransitive) To kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground.
When the weather turned cold, the tears that he shed would become frozen like veins; the blood on his forehead from kowtowing would also freeze and would not drip. 2013, Wendy Swartz, Robert Ford Campany, Yang Lu, Jessey J. C. Choo, Early Medieval China: A Sourcebook, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 645:
(figuratively, intransitive) To grovel, act in a very submissive manner; to show obeisance to (someone or something) in such a manner; to bow.
I suppose you're going to be nice to Odie and kowtow to Jon and lick the mailman's boots! I don't like you already. 1984 December 30, Jim Davis, Garfield (comic):
The letter to Razin contained another thought that preoccupied Stalin in the first months after the war: the need to avoid “kowtowing to the West,” including showing “unwarranted respect” for the “military authorities of Germany.” 2015, Oleg V. Khlevniuk, Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 265:
ja 土下座をする (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu leborul (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · ro ploconi (act submissively) · sh metanisati (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · fi kumartaa syvään (bow deeply) · sh metanisati (bow deeply) · fr s'agenouiller (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · nb knele (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · ar تَمَلَّقَ (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu hétrét görnyed (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · sh prostrirati (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · he התרפס (act submissively) · ka ქედმოხრა (act submissively) · es postrarse (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · fi tehdä kowtow (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · ru раболе́пствовать (act submissively) · nb underkaste seg (act submissively) · de kriechen (act submissively) · zza tabi biyen (diq) (act submissively) · de zu Kreuze kriechen (act submissively) · de den Kotau machen (act submissively) · da underkaste sig (act submissively) · da give efter (act submissively) · ro căciuli (act submissively) · ru де́лать коуто́у (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu csúszik-mászik (act submissively) · nb gi etter (act submissively) · pt reverenciar (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · da krybe til korset (act submissively) · nl zich buigen (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · fr se prosterner (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · de dienern (act submissively) · vi quỵ luỵ (act submissively) · de kuschen (act submissively) · vi khúm núm (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · nl knielen (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · cy cynffonna (act submissively) · nan-hbl 磕頭 /磕头 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · ca prosternar-se (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · cy moesymgrymu (bow deeply) · da prostrere (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · eo kliniĝi (act submissively) · ru преклоня́ться (act submissively) · vi khấu đầu (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · he התחנף (act submissively) · sh metanisati (act submissively) · hu megalázkodik (act submissively) · cmn 叩頭 /叩头 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · ca sotmetre's (act submissively) · fi nöyristellä (act submissively) · nb føye seg (act submissively) · cmn 磕頭 /磕头 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · nl zich aanpassen (act submissively) · sh klanjati se do zemlje (act submissively) · da føje (act submissively) · nl zich buigen (diep) (bow deeply) · he השתעבד (act submissively) · es prostrarse (disused) (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · cy ymgreinio (act submissively) · sh klanjati se do zemlje (bow deeply) · ru пресмыка́ться (act submissively) · ca prostrar-se (bow deeply) · uk вклонятися (bow deeply) · nan-hbl 叩頭 /叩头 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · vi khúm núm (act submissively) · pt fazer o kowtow (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · pt prostrar-se (bow deeply) · de katzbuckeln (act submissively) · nb krype til korset (act submissively) · ka ქედმოხრა (bow deeply) · cy cowtowio (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · vi quỳ lạy (act submissively) · vi quỳ lạy (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · yue 叩頭 /叩头 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu hajbókol (act submissively) · ko 머리를 조아리다 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu alázatoskodik (act submissively) · ar سَجَدَ (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · nl onderdanig zijn (act submissively) · nb gjøre knefall (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · ka ქედმოხრა (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · da knæle (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · cs klanět se až k zemi (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · pl kłaniać się (act submissively) · ko 고두(叩頭)하다 (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · vi lạy (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · fi kumarrella (act submissively) · ja 叩頭く (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · cs poklonkovat (act submissively) · vi quỵ luỵ (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · sh klanjati se do zemlje (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · uk бити чолом (bow deeply) · ru де́лать ни́зкий покло́н (bow deeply) · ar رَكَعَ (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · de einen Kotau machen (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu földre borul (kneel such that forehead touches ground) · hu meghajol (bow deeply)