WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Prone
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [L. pronus, akin to Gr. pravana sloping, inclined, and also to L. pro forward, for. See Pro-.]
Definition : 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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913