prone

See also: prôné, prône, and Prone

English

Etymology

From Middle English prone, proone, proon, from Latin prōnus (turned forward, bent or inclined), from prō (forward).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɹəʊn/
    • (file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /pɹoʊn/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -əʊn

Adjective

prone (comparative proner or more prone, superlative pronest or most prone)

prone and supine position
  1. Lying face downward.
    Synonym: prostrate
    Antonym: supine
    prone position
    • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
      But they had already discovered that he could be bullied, and they had it their own way; and presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking.
  2. Of the hand, forearm or foot: turned facing away from the body; with the thumb inward or big toe downward.
    the hand is in the prone position typically when using a keyboard; and the forearm is then also in the prone position; when the foot is resting on the inner side of the sole, it is in the prone position.
  3. Having a downward inclination or slope.
  4. (figuratively) Predisposed, liable, inclined.
    prone to failure

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

prone (third-person singular simple present prones, present participle proning, simple past and past participle proned)

  1. (medicine) To place in a prone position, to place face down.

Derived terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Italian

Adjective

prone

  1. feminine plural of prono

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

prōne

  1. vocative masculine singular of prōnus

Adverb

prōnē (comparative prōnius, superlative prōnissimē)

  1. leaning forward
  2. prone

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.