supine
UK /ˈs(j)uːpaɪn/ · US /ˌsuˈpaɪn/ adjective, noun
Forms supines
- adjective Lying on its back.
- adjective Of the hand, forearm or foot, turned facing toward the body or upward: with the thumb outward (palm up), or with the big toe raised relative to the little toe. “when one is washing one’s face, the hand is in the supine position; and then the forearm is also in the supine position; when the foot is resting on the outer side of the sole, it is in the supine position”
- adjective (figuratively) Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something. “Such corruption is commonplace in a world of supine civil servants and underfunded ministries.”
- adjective (rare, now poetic) Inclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.
- noun (grammar, also attributively) In Latin and other languages: a type of verbal noun used in the ablative and accusative cases, which shares the same stem as the passive participle.
- noun (grammar, also attributively) In Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic and Old Norse: a verb form that combines with an inflection of ha/hafa/hava to form the present perfect and pluperfect tenses.
- noun (grammar, also attributively) (obsolete terminology) The 'to'-prefixed infinitive in English or other Germanic languages, so named because the infinitive was regarded as a verbal noun and the 'to'-prefixed form of it was seen as the dative form of the verbal noun; the full infinitive.
Synonyms
reclined passive peaceful lazy lethargic listless adiaphroistic apathetic apathistical blasé blithe deaf cool shiftless dispassionate dull enervated gallionic halfhearted heartless resupine resistless unresisting
Antonyms
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Latin supīnus, from *sup- (see sub (“under”)) + -īnus (“of, pertaining to”). The word is cognate with Catalan supí, Italian supino, Old French sovin, Middle French souvin, Anglo-Norman supin, Old Occitan sobin, sopin, Portuguese supino, Spanish supino. Partly displaced Old English upweard (“upward, supine”), whence Modern English upward.
The noun is from Late Middle English supin (“supine of a Latin verb”) or Middle French supin (“(grammar) supine”), from Latin supīnum, (ellipsis of supīnum verbum (“supine verb”)), from supīnus; further etymology above.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Lying on the back, or with the face upward; --opposed to prone.
- adjective Leaning backward, or inclining with exposure to the sun; sloping; inclined.
- noun A verbal noun; or (according to C.F.Becker), a case of the infinitive mood ending in -um and -u, that in -um being sometimes called the former supine, and that in -u the latter supine.
Etymology [L. supinus, akin to sub under, super above. Cf. Sub-, Super-.]
Etymology [L. supinum (sc. verbum), from supinus bent or thrown backward, perhaps so called because, although furnished with substantive case endings, it rests or falls back, as it were, on the verb: cf. F. supin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “supine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details