Part 589

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.

Prone"ly, adv. In a prone manner or position.

Prone"ness, n.

1. The quality or state of being prone, or of bending downward; as, the proneness of beasts is opposed to the erectness of man.

2. The state of lying with the face down; -- opposed to supineness.

3. Descent; declivity; as, the proneness of a hill.

4. Inclination of mind, heart, or temper; propension; disposition; as, proneness to self- gratification.

Pro*neph"ric (?), a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the pronephros.

||Pro*neph"ros (?), ||Pro*neph"ron (&?;), n. [ NL., fr. Gr. &?; before ||+ &?; a kidney.] (Anat.) The head kidney. See under Head.

Prong (?), n. [Cf. D. prangen to pinch, press, LG. prange a stick, or W. procio to thrust, E. prowl, pang.]

1. A sharp-pointed instrument.

Prick it on a prong of iron.

Sandys.

2. The tine of a fork, or of a similar instrument; as, a fork of two or three prongs.

3. (Zoˆl.) (a) A sharp projection, as of an antler. (b) The fang of a tooth.