Etymologically
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pronus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈproː.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɔː.nus][1]

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]

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