I. ˈprōn adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin pronus bent forward, inclined, tending; akin to Latin pro before, forward — more at for
1. : having a tendency, propensity, or inclination : disposed , predisposed
drivers suspected of being accident prone
— used with to
man is prone to error
those industries that are most prone to periods of depression — J.A.Hobson
when courts are so very prone to stand upon their dignity — H.G.Wells
2. obsolete : readily followed or yielded to : easy
3. archaic : ready or willing to do something specified or implied
prone submission to the heavenly will — Robert Browning
4. : downward: a
a. : having the front or ventral surface downward : standing, lying, or placed so that the face and belly are facing or upon the earth or other supporting base
a prone position
the upper side of a prone or horizontal animal — W.E.Swinton
— distinguished from supine
b. : lying flat or prostrate — contrasted with erect
5. archaic : animallike , beastly , bestial
a prone and savage necessity, not worth the name of marriage — John Milton
Synonyms:
supine , prostrate , recumbent , couchant , dormant : prone may apply to a position with the face, chest, or abdomen lying on or turned toward the ground, floor, or other surface
if we ourselves lie prone upon the floor we can exemplify the characteristic relationship, for our internal cavity is nearest to the floor, above it is our backbone — W.E.Swinton
Her Majesty, prone but queenly, stretched out on the deck … to try her hand at target shooting — Time
supine applies to a position with the back against a supporting surface, the face upward, and suggests lethargic abjectness or inertness
lying supine in the bottom of the canoe and staring upward at the immaculate azure of the sky — Elinor Wylie
jaded people lolling supine in carriages — G.B.Shaw
prostrate applies to full-length proneness as in submission, fear, or helplessness; it may also apply to any horizontal position brought about by fall, weakness, or shock and inability to use and act
prostrate in homage, on her face, silent — Gordon Bottomley
lying prostrate on my chest, I took a long draught of clear cold water — W.H.Hudson †1922
stood over the bloody and prostrate form — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall
recumbent may apply to lying down in any position of comfortable repose
if the patient is greatly weakened or prostrated, he must be kept reasonably warm, recumbent — Morris Fishbein
recumbent upon the brown pine-droppings — George Meredith
couchant and dormant , mainly technical heraldic terms in the senses here involved, apply to a prone body position, the former suggesting that the head is raised as if in watchfulness, the latter that it is lowered in sleep.
Synonym: see in addition liable .
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French prône, literally, choir screen (where the instruction was originally delivered), from (assumed) Vulgar Latin protinum vestibule, screen before an entrance, alteration of Latin prothyra (plural), from Greek prothyron space before a door, from pro- pro- (I) + thyra door — more at door
: a short religious instruction delivered in church preceding the sermon : a brief pedagogical, hortatory, or homiletical introduction to the sermon