supine

adj

1. Lying on its back.

   “Poor Pnin had come down the last steps on his back. He lay supine for a moment, his eyes moving to and fro.”

   “Data, in part previously reported by this laboratory (2, 9), on the effects of mannitol loads in supine subjects, and of saline infusions in both supine and standing subjects, have also been used in the construction of Table III and Figures 1 and 2.”

   “Posterior displacement of the sternum can produce a deformity of the heart, particularly anterior indentation of the right ventricle. [...] The physical work capacity in pectus excavatum at a given heart rate was significantly lower in the sitting than the supine position.”

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.

   “when one is washing one’s face, the hand is in the supine position; and then the forearm is also in the supine position; when the foot is resting on the outer side of the sole, it is in the supine position”

3. (figuratively)Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something.

   “Such corruption is commonplace in a world of supine civil servants and underfunded ministries.”

   “[W]hen Man was fallen, and had abandoned his primitive Innocence, [...] he became puſillanimous, and was eaſily ruffled with every little Paſſion within: ſupine, and as openly expoſed to any Temptation or Aſſault from without.”

   “The Academics talk always of Doubts and ſuſpense of Judgment, of Danger in haſty Determinations, of confining to the very narrow Bounds the Enquiries of the Understanding, and of renouncing all Speculations that lie not within the Limits of common Life and Practice. Nothing, therefore, can be more contrary than ſuch a Philoſophy to the ſupine Indolence of the Mind, its raſh Arrogance, its lofty Pretenſions, and its ſuperſtitious Credulity.”

4. (poetic, rare)Inclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.

   “But if the Vine / On riſing Ground be plac'd, or Hills ſupine, / Extend thy looſe Battalions largely wide, / Opening thy Ranks and Files on either Side: [...]”

noun

1. (also, attributive)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.

   “And here also you may observ, that the syllable which is doubled in the Preterperfect tens is not doubled in the Supines, as totondi to clip, make's tonsum: cecídi to beat, cæsum: […]”

   “There be alſo appertaining unto Verbs, two Supines, the one ending in um, which is called the firſt Supine, becauſe it hath the ſignification of the Verb Active: as, Eo amatum, I go to love: and the other in u, becauſe it hath for the moſt part the ſignification of Paſſive, as Difficilis amatu, hard to be loved.”

   “If you must know, the verb finite (i.e. limited by person and number) has three persons, two numbers, six tenses and three moods, while the verb infinite (not so limited) has infinitives, three participles, the gerund and gerundive and two supines.”

2. (also, attributive)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.

   “The three conjugations are distinguished principally by the ending of the supine. In the first conjugation the supine ends in at, as: tala speak talat spoken. In the second conjugation the supine ends in t after a consonant, as: köpa buy köpt bought. In the third conjugation the supine ends in it, as: taga take tagit taken.”

3. (also, attributive)(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.