Etymologically
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prone

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /prəʊn/, US /proʊn/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōnus (“bent forward, inclined to”),[2][3][4][5][6] perhaps from a lost adverb formed from prō (“forward”) (see pro-) with the ending seen in īnfernus and externus.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Inclined or disposed to something: 1408, as proone, in the Wycliffe Bible, in Barnhart; about 1400 in Etymonline.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Lying face downwards is first recorded in 1578,[2][7][3] and of a body part turned downwards from 1646.[7] Lying flat in general is from 1697; the OED, as quoted by Etymonline, calls this proper only for things without an upper and under side.[7][3] Figuratively, inclined towards what is base, it is from 1645.[7] Pronation is from the 17th century and pronator from the 18th.[4]

Timeline

  • 1408 – inclined, disposed.[2]
  • 1578 – lying face down.[2][7]
  • 1645 – grovelling (figurative).[7]
  • 1697 – lying flat.[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Lying flat or face downwards; prostrate.
  2. Having a tendency; inclined or liable.
  3. Sloping or tending downwards.

Adverb

  1. In a prone position.

Verb

  1. To place in a prone position.

Word family

  • pronely
  • proneness
  • overprone
  • semiprone
  • accident-prone
  • pronate
  • pronation
  • pro-
  • supine

Usage notes

An older prone, a homily read in church or the place in church where notices were read (1670), is a separate word, from French prône.[7][5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press