Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Lying flat with the face and front of the body turned downward: Describes a physical position of lying horizontally, facing the ground.
   • Having a natural inclination or tendency toward something (often something undesirable): Describes a disposition or susceptibility to a particular condition, activity, or fault.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective (Physical Position):
  • The patient was placed in a prone position for the back examination.
  • He lay prone on the grass, watching the insects.
• Adjective (Having a Tendency):
  • She is prone to headaches when stressed.
  • This coastal region is prone to hurricanes during the autumn months.

Advanced Usage

• "Accident-prone": Having a tendency to be involved in accidents.
  • The factory identified the accident-prone area and installed new safety guards.
• "Prone to" + noun/gerund: The standard construction for indicating a tendency.
  • Old wiring is prone to failure.
  • He is prone to exaggerating his accomplishments.

Variants and Related Words

• Proneness (noun): The state or quality of being prone.
  • His proneness to error required careful review of his work.

Synonyms

• Prostrate: Lying stretched out on the ground with face downward (often implies helplessness or submission).
• Supine: Lying face upward. (This is an antonym for the physical position meaning).
• Inclined: Having a tendency or disposition.
• Susceptible: Likely to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing.

Related Phrases and Constructions

• Prone position: A specific term used in medicine, sports, and military contexts to describe lying face down.
  • In CPR training, you learn to roll a victim into the recovery position from a prone position.
• Prone to error: Likely to contain or produce mistakes.
  • Manual data entry is a process prone to error.

Notes on Meaning

• The "tendency" meaning is often used in a slightly negative or cautionary context (e.g., prone to illness, prone to mistakes), though not exclusively.
• In medical terminology, "prone" specifically contrasts with "supine" (lying on the back).

Adjective

1. lying face downward
2. having a tendency (to); often used in combination
   • a child prone to mischief
   • failure-prone