stratio-, strati-, strato-, strat-, -stratus; ster-, stern-
(Latin: horizontal layer; stretched, spread out; layer, cloud layer; strew, scatter, disperse)
The Latin stratum meant "something laid down". It was used as a noun for the past participle of sternere, "to spread out, to lay down, to stretch out" which produced consternation and prostrate plus many other words from the same etymological sources which are listed in this unit.