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.

2. Prostrate; flat; esp., lying with the face down; -- opposed to supine.

Which, as the wind,
Blew where it listed, laying all things prone.

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.

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.