supine
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: grammar
human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
Etymology: The adjective is borrowed from Latin supīnus, from *sup- (see sub (“under”)) + -īnus (“of, pertaining to”). The word is cognate with Catalan supí, Italian supino, Old French sovin, Middle French souvin, Anglo-Norman supin, Old Occitan sobin, sopin, Portuguese supino, Spanish supino. Partly displaced Old English upweard (“upward, supine”), whence Modern English upward.
The noun is from Late Middle English supin (“supine of a Latin verb”) or Middle French supin (“(grammar) supine”), from Latin supīnum, (ellipsis of supīnum verbum (“supine verb”)), from supīnus; further etymology above.
Inflected forms:
form: more supine
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most supine
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: supines
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Lying on its back.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
gloss: Turned facing toward the body or upward: with the thumb outward (palm up), or with the big toe raised relative to the little toe.
pos: adj
examples: 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
gloss: Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: 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.
In times of inſurrection or invaſion it would be natural and proper that the militia of a neighbouring ſtate ſhould be marched into another to reſiſt a common enemy or to guard the republic againſt the violences of faction or ſedition. [...] If the power of affording it be placed under the direction of the Union, there will be no danger of a ſupine and liſtleſs inattention to the dangers of a neighbour, till its near approach had ſuperadded the incitements of ſelf preſervation to the too feeble impulſes of duty and ſympathy.
In A v. UK, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that Part 4 of the 2001 Act [the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001] was not a strictly necessary response to the acknowledged emergency evidenced by the attacks in the USA and that the detention of the applicants was in breach of Article 5 [of the European Convention on Human Rights]. This conclusion is noteworthy given that the European Court has in the past adopted a deferential if not supine approach when assessing the legality of derogations under Article 15.
A single slice of this could leave you supine in front of the Queen's speech without even the wherewithal to reach for the remote control.
While they ultimately came to the same conclusion, the pre-emptive tweet made it harder to rebut the court's judgment that they were “supine servants of an overweening master”.
gloss: Inclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.
pos: adj
tags: poetic
rare
examples: 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: [...]
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: also
attributive
examples: 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.
Of the large number of verbs which take the infinitive in Old-English the greater number are now followed by the supine. […] The substitution of the supine for the infinitive began in Old-English itself. Thus the supine 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 supine as well as the infinitive.
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.
The chapter focuses on the supine clause, which is a language-specific construction. An example is offered in (1): the aspectual verb isprăvi 'finish' selects a clausal complement that contains a supine verb. We know that the supine is a verb because its direct object is in unmarked Case (i.e. Accusative). Supine nouns, like any regular noun, have the direct object marked for Genitive Case. […] The emergence and the spread of the supine clause is very well captured in the Old Romanian texts, a situation that contrasts with the incomplete information we have about other clausal complements.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: also
attributive
examples: 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.
There are two non-finite forms in Swedish, the infinitive and the supine. […] The supine has two basic allomorphs: -t (weak verbs) and -it (strong verbs). […] The supine verb phrase serves as complement of the perfect auxiliary ha 'have' (hon hade bundit honom) which can be deleted, though, in subordinate clauses (eftersom hon [hade] bundit honom 'since she had bound him'). (The supine has existed as a morphologically distinct category in standard Swedish language at least since the 19th c.; cf. art. 155.)
gloss: (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.
pos: noun
tags: also
attributive
Antonyms: nonsupine
prone
Related words: resupine
gerund
infinitive
Derived words: nonsupine
non-supine
semisupine
semi-supine
supinate
supinated
supination
supinator
supine hypotensive syndrome
supinely
supineness
supinity
supine tense
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