supine

Meaning

Adj

1. Lying on its back.
2. Turned facing toward the body or upward: with the thumb outward (palm up), or with the big toe raised relative to the little toe.
3. Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something.
4. Inclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.

Noun

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. (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

resupine

inactive

lying on one’s back

passive

recumbent

sluggish

resistless

unresisting

lying

nonchalant

reclined

reclining

superlative

lying on back

palm upward

face up

supplicative

indifferent

indolent

inert

laying down

lazy

lethargic

logy

Hyphenated as

sup‧ine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈs(j)uːpaɪn/

Etymology

Cognate with Catalan: supí

Cognate with Italian: supino

Cognate with Old French: sovin

Cognate with Middle French: souvin

Cognate with Anglo-Norman: supin

Cognate with Old Provençal: sobin

Cognate with Portuguese: supino

Cognate with Spanish: supino

Inherited from Middle English: supin

In summary

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.