Sentence:  Of the large number of verbs which take the infinitive in Old-English the greater number are now followed by the <WSD>supine</WSD>. ... The substitution of the <WSD>supine</WSD> for the infinitive began in Old-English itself. Thus the <WSD>supine</WSD> of purpose, as in "hīe cōmon þæt land tō sċēawienne" 'they came to spy out the land,' gradually supplanted the older infinitive with many verbs of desiring, intending, attempting, etc., so that while such a verb as "willan" 'will' continued—as it still does in modern English—to take the infinitive only, other verbs of similar meaning, ... began to take the <WSD>supine</WSD> as well as the infinitive. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  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.