obeisance vs kowtow

obeisance and kowtow both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
obeisance	Yes	No	No	No
kowtow	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, kowtow is a hyponym of obeisance; that is, kowtow is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than obeisance:

obeisance: bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting
kowtow: a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission

Other hyponyms of obeisance include genuflection, genuflexion, kotow, scrape, scraping, salaam.

obeisance (noun)	kowtow (noun)
the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person	a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission
bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame or greeting

obeisance (verb)	kowtow (verb)
	try to gain favor by cringing or flattering
	bend the knees and bow in a servile manner