supine

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsupaɪn/ UK /ˈsuːpaɪn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
lying face upward; passively inactive

He lay supine on the grass, staring at the clouds.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · lying face upward;... prostrate recumbentrecliningprone passive lethargic listless

Opposites

prone upright active energetic

Word family

Forms supinely

Derived forms supinelysupinenesssupinatesupination

Related forms supinate

Etymology

From Latin supinus ('lying on the back, face upward; also indolent'), related to sub ('under') and super ('above'), from Proto-Indo-European *upo ('under, up from under').

supinus Latin *upo Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# supine

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsupaɪn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsuːpaɪn/

## Meanings
1. lying face upward; passively inactive

## Examples
- He lay supine on the grass, staring at the clouds.

## Synonyms
- prostrate
- recumbent
- reclining
- prone
- passive
- lethargic
- listless

## Antonyms
- prone
- upright
- active
- energetic

## Derived Forms
- supinely
- supineness
- supinate
- supination

## Related Forms
- supinate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: supinus
- Root: *upo

## Etymology
From Latin supinus ('lying on the back, face upward; also indolent'), related to sub ('under') and super ('above'), from Proto-Indo-European *upo ('under, up from under').

## AI Etymology
Supine comes from Latin supinus ('lying on the back, face upward; also indolent'), related to sub ('under') and super ('above'), from Proto-Indo-European *upo ('under, up from under'). The historical chain includes Latin supinus and Proto-Indo-European *upo. The quoted older senses, "lying on the back, face upward; also indolent", "under", "above", and "under, up from under", supply the semantic anchors for supine. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word supine carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "lying face upward; passively inactive". English derivatives include supinely, supineness, supinate, and supination; related English forms include supinate. The result is a adj and noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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