Also kow-tow, -too, ko-too, -tou, ka-tou, koo-too. [Chinese k’o-t’ou, f. k’o knock + t’ou the head.] The Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead in the act of prostrating oneself, as an expression of extreme respect, submission or worship.
1804. Barrow, Trav. China (1806), 213. The Chinese were determined they should be kept in the constant practice of the koo-too, or ceremony of genuflection and prostration.
1817. Ellis, Jrnl. Emb. China, 213. Lord Macartney’s performance of the ko-tou was asserted.
1845. Athenæum, 22 Feb., 193 He felt some reluctance when called upon to perform the ko-tow.
1864. D. F. Rennie, Brit. Arms N. China, 232, note. The kowtow is the Chinese obeisance indicating extreme respect.
b. fig. An act of obsequious respect.
1834. Fraser’s Mag., X. 230. Thus speaks the high-priest of fashion, and the beau monde perform the koo-too with all imaginable submission.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt. (1872), VI. XVI. ix. 235. Voltaire from of old had faithfully done his kowtoos to this King of the Sciences.
