“Nice” is a word that has become obsolete about ten centuries ago. About in which literature it was found and in what cases was used, is described in this article.
Archaism
So, prostrate is a part of speech that is not used by our contemporaries. Except for some areas described below. The word came into Russian from the Old Slavonic language. To the adverb that our ancestors used, we can choose the synonym "down". In the speech of the inhabitants of Kievan Rus, it became less and less common over time, but remained forever in church vocabulary. And there it acquired a slightly different meaning.
Church literature
“Nice” is a word that does not appear in the scriptures per se. Exclusively in phrases, for example, with the verb "fall". What does this steady expression mean? According to one of the dictionaries, "prostrate" is a symbolic action designed to express the highest degree of humility. Believers perform it with fiery prayer. Of course, not only the authors of Orthodox literature use the word. More than once, an adverb is also found in the New Testament.
"Nice" is archaism. Poets and prose writers use obsolete words in their works to add solemnity. Here are some examples.
Pushkin
In the story of the great Russian writer about the noble robber, the aforementioned phrase is also found. Such stable expressions were already somewhat outdated for the beginning of the 19th century. In "Dubrovsky" it is found in the chapter, which describes the arrival in the possession of the main character of the minions of Troekurov. The peasants are deeply loyal to the former owner, but when they see his enemy’s assistants, they "fall on their faces." Such is the strength of the habit of a Russian serf. Thus, we see that the adverb "prostrate" is found not only in church literature.
Lermontov
"To prostrate" is what? First of all, an expression of extreme devotion. The phrase is also found in Pushkin’s work “Boris Godunov”. We find him and Lermontov. True, another phrase is already present here - "to lie on the ground." Apparently, the phrase that appears in the poem "Mtsyri", in the eighth chapter, was used by the author in order to emphasize the special humility of his heroes.
"Nice" is "touching the ground." In Western European languages there are equivalents to this dialect, but they are found in the works of the authors of the 18-19th century. For example, in the novel "The Elixirs of Satan," written by the romantic writer Hoffman. What happened to be called a split personality happened to the hero of this book. From time to time, a demon infused him, but this condition was rather unexpectedly replaced by an attack of extreme humility. Then the character went to the temple, where he prostrated himself and began to fervently recite the prayer.
The word whose meaning we have considered has a homonym. Namely, Nice is a small settlement located in Germany.