Pros*tra"tion (?), n. [L.
prostratio: cf. F. prostration.] 1.
The act of prostrating, throwing down, or laying fiat; as, the
prostration of the body.
2. The act of falling down, or of bowing in
humility or adoration; primarily, the act of falling on the face, but
usually applied to kneeling or bowing in reverence and
worship.
A greater prostration of reason than of
body.
Shak.
3. The condition of being prostrate; great
depression; lowness; dejection; as, a postration of
spirits. "A sudden prostration of strength."
Arbuthnot.
4. (Med.) A latent, not an exhausted,
state of the vital energies; great oppression of natural strength and
vigor.
&fist; Prostration, in its medical use, is analogous to the
state of a spring lying under such a weight that it is incapable of
action; while exhaustion is analogous to the state of a spring
deprived of its elastic powers. The word, however, is often used to
denote any great depression of the vital powers.
