pronus

Forms

prōnus (feminine prōna, neuter prōnum, comparative prōnior, superlative prōnissimus, adverb prōnē); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Varro has a feminine prōnis.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from prō (“forward”) with the suffix ⟨-nus⟩ of supernus.^[2][3] The TLL also allows an adverb ⟨*prō-ne⟩, like superne.^[3] Lewis & Short and Wiktionary compare Ancient Greek πρηνής (prēnḗs, “face down”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Terence.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its physical senses are leaning forward, often eagerly, as charioteers bend forward over the reins (Virgil), and bending towards the ground, as a lamb bends to drink (Ovid).^[2] It is used of lying face down, and of the horizontal posture of animals, which Sallust says nature made prōna atque ventrī oboedientia, “bent down and obedient to their bellies”.^[2] Of ground it means sloping, and of movement downward; poets use it of setting stars and of passing time.^[2][1]

Figuratively it is inclined or disposed to something, as Cicero speaks of a good form of state inclined towards a most ruinous one, then well-disposed and favourable, and in the Silver age also easy.^[2][1] Döderlein says that prōnus denotes inclination in general, while prōclīvis is oftener the inclination to good and prōpēnsus to bad.^[6] Church Latin glosses it “prone, flat, inclined, bent forward”.^[7] English prone, about 1400, first meant “naturally inclined”.^[8]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a state inclining to ruin.^[2][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of animals bent to the ground.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of charioteers bending forward.^[2][5]
• c. 1400 – English prone.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Leaning or bending forward;^[2][1] (poetic) running headlong.^[2][1]
2. Bending down; lying face down, prostrate.^[2][1][7]
3. (of ground) Sloping, steep;^[2] (of movement) downward.^[2]
4. (of stars, time) Setting, declining.^[1]
5. (figurative) Inclined, disposed (to).^[2][1]
6. Favourable;^[1] (post-Augustan) easy.^[1]

Related words

• prō
• prōclīvis
• English prone

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com