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Kowtow originated as a noun referring to the act of kneeling and touching one's head to the ground as a salute or act of worship to a revered authority. In traditional China this ritual was performed by commoners making requests to the local magistrate, by the emperor to the shrine of Confucius, or by foreign representatives appearing before the emperor to establish trade relations. (In the late 18th century, some Western nations resisted performing the ritual, which acknowledged the Chinese emperor as the "son of heaven.") The word kowtow derives from Chinese koutou, formed by combining the verb kou ("to knock") with the noun tou ("head").
Examples of kowtow in a Sentence
Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel, 14 June 2025
On one side is a Senate GOP almost entirely representing lower-cost states that is tired of kowtowing to the House; on the other side is a handful of House members whose electoral wins gave Republicans the majority, and the ability to even write a party-line tax bill.
—Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 13 June 2025
Trudy Rubin, Twin Cities, 23 May 2025
That stronger defense will be vital: Trump’s kowtow to Russia over Ukraine will surely make Putin bolder in hybrid warfare against Europe.
—Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Kowtow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kowtow. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
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