What is "proskynesis"

n. 1 (context historical English) The act of bowing down before a lord or ruler, especially in ancient Persia. 2 (context Eastern Orthodoxy English) The level of veneration properly given to God's creations rather than to God himself.

Proskynesis (; Greek ) proskynesis (from the words πρός pros (towards) and κυνέω kyneo (to kiss)) is described by the Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who lived in the 5th century BC in his Histories 1.134:

When they meet each other in the streets, you may know if the persons meeting are of equal rank by the following token: if they are, instead of speaking, they kiss each other on the lips. In the case where one is a little inferior to the other, the kiss is given on the cheek; where the difference of rank is great, the inferior prostrates himself upon the ground.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the term proskynesis is used theologically to indicate the veneration given to icons and relics of the saints; as distinguished from latria, the adoration which is due to God alone, and also physical gestures such as bowing or kneeling ( genuflection in the Western church) before an altar or icon.