prone adj
1. lying face downward [syn: prostrate]
2. having a tendency (to); often used in combination; "a child prone to mischief"; "failure-prone"

Prone \Prone\, a. [L. pronus, akin to Gr. ?, ?, Skr. pravana sloping, inclined, and also to L. pro forward, for. See Pro-.]
1. Bending forward; inclined; not erect. Towards him they bend With awful reverence prone. --Milton.
2. Prostrate; flat; esp., lying with the face down; -- opposed to supine. Which, as the wind, Blew where it listed, laying all things prone. --Byron.
3. Headlong; running downward or headlong. ``Down thither prone in flight.'' --Milton.
4. Sloping, with reference to a line or surface; declivous; inclined; not level. Since the floods demand, For their descent, a prone and sinking land. --Blackmore.
5. Inclined; propense; disposed; -- applied to the mind or affections, usually in an ill sense. Followed by to. ``Prone to mischief.'' --Shak. Poets are nearly all prone to melancholy. --Landor.

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The word "prone," meaning "naturally inclined to something, apt, liable," has been recorded in English since 1382; the meaning "lying face-down" was first recorded in 1578, but is also referred to as "lying down" or "going prone."

"Prone" derives from the Latin pronus: "bent forward, inclined to," from the adverbial form of the prefix pro- "forward." Both the original, literal, and the derived figurative sense were used in Latin, but the figurative is older in English.

In anatomy, the prone position is a position of the body lying face down. It is opposed to the supine position which is face up. Using the terms defined in the anatomical position, the ventral side is down, and the dorsal side is up.

With respect to the forearm, prone refers to that configuration where the palm of the hand is directed posteriorly, and the radius and ulna are crossed.

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