Consternation

[William Hupy]

There is considerable consternation about this word. Could someone explain to me the progression from the PIE roots: con and stere. Meaning with and spread out. By the way, the latter root has considerable progeny in a multitude of languages. When researching this I came across this word:

cataplexy (n.)
"the state of an animal when it is feigning death," 1883, from German kataplexie, from Greek kataplexis "stupefaction, amazement, consternation," from kataplessein "to strike down" (with fear, etc.), from kata "down" (see cata-) + plessein "to strike, hit," from PIE root *plāk- (2) "to strike" (see plague (n.)). Related: Cataplectic.

[Slava]

I would say that cataplexy is pretty much the explanation. Feigning death by spreading oneself out. Or, as seen in movies, laying out one's body before the altar, in prostration.