رَكَعَ, (Th, Ṣ, &c.,) aor. ـَ {يَرْكَعُ}, (Th, TA,) inf. n. رُكُوعٌ (Th, Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ) and رَكْعٌ, (Th, TA,) He bowed, or bent, himself; or became bowed or bent: (Th, Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb:) so says Er-Rághib, adding that it is sometimes used to denote a particular manner of doing so in prayer, and sometimes to denote humility and self-abasement either in worship or in other cases: (TA:) he lowered his head: (Th:) and he (an old man) bowed himself, or bent himself, or became bowed or bent, by reason of age: (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ:) this is [said to be] the primary signification: (TA:) or he fell upon his face; (IDrd, IB, Ḳ;) and stumbled. (IB.)

And hence, from رَكَعَ as used in the first of the senses explained above, (Ṣ, Mgh,) or as used in the first of the senses assigned to it above when said of an old man, (TA,) or as used in the last sense explained above, (IB,) رُكُوعُ الصَّلَاةِ, (Ṣ, IB, Mgh, TA,) or الرُّكُوعُ فِى الصَّلَاة, The lowering of the head, (Ḳ, TA,) by a person praying, (TA,) [or in prayer,] after the act of standing in which the recitation [of portions of the Ḳur-án] is performed, so that the palms of the hands reach the knees; or, so that the back becomes depressed; (Ḳ, TA;) accord. to the doctors of practical law, so that if a cup full of water be placed upon the back, it will not be spilled. (TA.)

رَكَعَ إِلَى ٱللّٰهِ He lowered his head, or he humbled himself, to God; syn. اِطْمَأَنَّ. (Z, TA.)

رَكَعَ, also signifies He prayed; (Mgh;) and soتركّع↓. (TA.) Thus in the Ḳur [ii. 40], وَٱرْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ, And pray ye with those who pray. (Mgh.) You say also, رَكَعَ رَكْعَةً, and رَكْعَتَيْنِ, and ثَلَاثَ رَكَعَاتٍ, He prayed a rek'ah, and two rek'ahs, and three rek'ahs. (Ḳ.) [See رَكْعَةٌ, below.]

Also, accord. to IḲooṭ and several others, He stood to prayer. (Mṣb)

لَغِبَتِ الإِبِلُ حَتَّى رَكَعَتْ ‡ The camels became fatigued, or fatigued in the utmost degree, or languid in consequence of fatigue, so that they lowered their heads, and fell upon their faces. (TA.)

رَكَعَتِ النَّخْلَةُ † The palm-tree inclined: a phrase which may be of classical authority, but [Mṭr says,] I have not found it. (Mgh.)

Said of a man, (TA,) رَكَعَ, also signifies ‡ He became poor after richness, or competence, or sufficiency; and his state, or condition, became lowered, or abased. (Ḳ, TA.)

رَكْعَةٌ, [inf. n. of un. of 1: and particularly signifying] A single act of standing in prayer: and in its legal acceptation, used in a more particular sense; (Mṣb;) meaning a single act of standing in prayer, followed by the رُكُوع [or lowering of the head in the manner described above (see الرُّكُوعُ فِى الصَّلَاةِ in the first paragraph)] and two prostrations: (TA:) [and hence, by a further extension of the meaning, for صَلَاةُ رَكْعَةٍ, the prayer of one bowing of the head and body; the previous act of standing, and the two subsequent prostrations, being understood as included in this expression:] pl. رَكَعَاتٌ. (Mṣb, Ḳ.) [Using it in the last of these senses,] you say, صَلَّى رَكْعَةً [He performed the prayer of one bowing of the head and body]: (Ḳ:) and صَلَّى رَكْعَتَيْنِ [he performed the prayers of two bowings of the head and body]. (Mṣb, Ḳ.) [A full description of the act of prayer thus termed may be seen in my work on the Modern Egyptians.]

رُكْعَةٌ A deep hollow (هُوَّةٌ) in the ground: (IDrd, Ḳ:) asserted to be of the dial. of El-Yemen. (IDrd, TA.)

رَاكِعٌ part. n. of 1, Bowing, or bending himself; or becoming bowed or bent: [&c.:] (Mgh:) anything, or anybody or any person, (accord. to different copies of the Ḳ,) lowering its, or his, head: (Ḳ:) or falling upon its, or his, face, so that the knees touch the ground, or do not touch it, after lowering the head: (TA:)

prostrating himself in thanksgiving; used in this sense in the Ḳur xxxviii. 23: (Mgh:)

praying: (Mgh:)

and applied by the Arabs in the Time of Ignorance to a follower of the true religion, not worshipping idols: (TA:)

pl. رَاكَعُونَ (Mgh) and رُكَّعٌ and رُكُوعٌ. (TA.)

إِبِلٌ رَوَاكِعُ, [pl. of رَاكِعَةٌ,] ‡ Camels lowering their heads, and falling upon their faces, in consequence of fatigue, or the utmost fatigue, or languor arising from fatigue. (TA.)

مَرْكَعٌ [A place in which one bows, or bends himself: and particularly, in prayer: pl. as below].

A hard and long stone upon which one grinds wheat or the like: pl. مَرَاكِعُ. (TA.)