▪ I. supine, n. Gram.
(ˈs(j)uːpaɪn)
Also 6 supyne, -in.
[ad. L. supīnum, neut. sing. (sc. verbum word) of supīnus (see next): cf. F. supin. The word was applied by Roman grammarians to the gerund as well as the supine.]
In Latin grammar, applied to forms of a verbal noun, the one an accusative singular ending in -tum or -sum, used with verbs of motion and called the first supine or † former supine, the other a locative singular ending in -tū or -sū (varying in early times with a dative singular in -tuī, -suī), used with adjectives and called the second supine or † latter supine.
The term is applied by some grammarians to the English infinitive with to (OE. tó scéawienne, mod. Eng. to show).
| a 1522 Lily Gram. Rudim. in Colet's æditio (1537) D iv, Ther cometh of a verbe deryuied a parte called a supine lyke the participle of the pretertens. These are .ii. The first endeth in um,..and his significacion is actiue... The seconde supine endeth in u..& his significacion is passiue [Introd. Gram. (1549) B iij, Called the fyrste supyne..called the later Supyne]. 1530 Palsgr. Introd. p. xxxvii, I set out all his rotes and tenses..as the latin grammariens have done the preterites and supines of suche verbes as..be of any diffycultye. 1665 R. Johnson Scholars Guide 1 Observe the Radix of words, and the Supines of Verbs, and they will direct to write right. a 1721 Prior Dial. Dead, Chas. & Cl. (1907) 216 Grammarians,..meer Traders in Gerunds and Retailers of Supines. 1831 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 220/1 Schoolboys believe that Gerunds and Supines will be abolished, and that Currant Tarts must ultimately come down in price. 1854 Andrews & Stoddard Lat. Gram. 77 The supine in um is called the former supine; that in u, the latter. 1894 W. M. Lindsay Latin Lang. §88 The 1st Supine is also found in Umbrian, e.g. aseriato etu ‘observatum ito’. In the Romance languages the Supines have been lost. 1898 Sweet New Engl. Gram. §2314 Of the large number of verbs which take the infinitive in Old-English the greater number are now followed by the supine. |
▪ II. supine, a.
(ˈs(j)uːpaɪn, formerly s(j)uːˈpaɪn)
In 6 Sc. suppyne.
[ad. L. supīnus (whence OF. souvin, Pr. sobi(n), supi(n), It., Sp., Pg. supino), f. Italic *sup-, root of super above, superus higher: see -ine1.]
1. Lying on one's back, lying with the face or front upward. Also said of the position. Often predicatively or quasi-advb.
Sometimes used loosely for ‘lying, recumbent’.
| c 1500 Kennedy Passion of Christ, At Cumplin Tyme 1290 Apoun his bak he did ly on suppyne. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 268 The position or manner of lying of the sickeman, eyther prone that is downeward, or supine that is vpward. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. vi. 193 That women drowned swim prone but men supine, or upon their backs, are popular affirmations, whereto we cannot assent. 1658 ― Hydriot. iv. 21 They buried their dead on their backs, or in a supine position. 1700 Dryden Ceyx and Alcyone 295 Where lay the God And slept supine, his Limbs display'd abroad. 1715 Pope Iliad iv. 603 Supine he tumbles on the crimson sands. a 1788 Pott Chirurg. Wks. II. 57 When the patient is in a supine posture. a 1806 H. K. White ‘Ye unseen Spirits’ 4 As by the wood-spring stretch'd supine he lies. 1876 Trans. Clinical Soc. IX. 72 Having placed the patient in the supine position. 1881 J. Payn Grape from Thorn xi, The ancient Romans, taking their meals, as they did, supine, and resting on one elbow. |
b. Of the hand or arm: With the palm upward; supinated.
| 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iv. viii. 165 The Radius makes the whole Arm prone or supine. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. iii. 48 The rustic Phidyle should hold out her supine hands. 1868 Livingstone Last Jrnls. 15 Nov. (1873) I. 346 The Africans all beckon with the hand, to call a person, in a different way from what Europeans do. The hand is held, as surgeons say, prone, or palm down, while we beckon with the hand held supine, or palm up. |
c. (a) Of a part of the body: Situated so as to be upward; upper, superior.
| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. b 5, Their finns are foure, two in the prone part, two in the supine, & circumvallate round. Ibid., The eyes [of fishes] are in the supine part of their heads. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxxiv. III. 415, I have seen a fly turn its head completely round, so that the mouth became supine and the vertex prone. Ibid. xlvi. IV. 268 Supine Surface... The upper surface. |
(b) Bot. See quot., and cf. procumbent a. 2.
| 1853 MacDonald & Allan Bot. Wordbk. 32 Supine... The face of a leaf is called the supine disc. |
d. transf. Sloping or inclining backwards. poet.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 373 If the Vine On rising Ground be plac'd, or Hills supine, extend thy loose Battalions. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam xii. xxi. 4 The prow and stern did curl, Horned on high, like the young moon supine. |
2. fig. Morally or mentally inactive, inert, or indolent.
| 1603 [implied in supinely 2]. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. i. iv. ii. 301 Through their..contempte, supine negligence, extenuation, wretchednes & peeuishnesse, they vndoe themselues. 1630 Donne Serm. Easter-day (1640) 246 So also did they fall under the rebuke and increpation of the Angell for another supine inconsideration. 1650 Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) I. 198 The Pr. of Orange..died..of the Small Pox thro' the supine negligence or worse of some of his Physicians. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iv. §13 The lazy supine airs of a fine gentleman. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. lv. (1806) IV. 225 They lived in the most supine security. 1779 Boswell Let. to Johnson 17 July, A supine indolence of mind. 1807 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 72 The first ground of complaint was the supine inattention of the administration. 1819 Shelley Cenci iv. iv. 181 The supine slaves Of blind authority. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. v, He wakened up from the listless and supine life which he had been leading. |
| advb. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 36 So supine negligent are they. |
† b. supine of: indifferent to, negligent of. (Cf. listless a.) Obs. rare.
| 1724 Welton Chr. Faith & Pract. 195 A profane..mind that is altogether supine of religion. |
c. Not active; passive.
| 1843 Ruskin Mod. Paint. ii. v. iii. §21 The stream in their hands looks active, not supine, as if it leaped, not as if it fell. 1878 H. S. Wilson Alpine Ascents i. 11 In which the body is supine while the fancy remains active. |