Kowtow

Kowtow, which is borrowed from kòu tóu in Mandarin Chinese, is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. An alternative Chinese term is ketou, however the meaning is somewhat altered: kòu has the general meaning of 'knock', whereas kē has the general meaning of "touch upon (a surface)", tóu meaning head.