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supine

sup·ine/ˌsuˈpaɪn/adjective, noun

supine is spelled S-U-P-I-N-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (sup·ine). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, supine means “Lying on its back” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in supine?

Letters6: S-U-P-I-N-E
Syllables2: sup·ine
In writingabout once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is supine?

Supine appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce supine?

  • UK /ˈs(j)uːpaɪn/
  • US /ˌsuˈpaɪn/
  • US /ˈsuˌpaɪn/

Supine has 2 syllables, split sup·ine in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-supine.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with supine?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as supine from its last stressed vowel (/aɪn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: puisne.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of supine

  • more supine comparative
  • most supine superlative
  • supines plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does supine mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Lying on its back.

  2. 2

    Of the hand, forearm or foot, turned facing toward the body or upward: with the thumb outward (palm up), or with the big toe raised relative to the little toe.

    when one is washing one’s face, the hand is in the supine position; and then the forearm is also in the supine position; when the foot is resting on the outer side of the sole, it is in the supine position

  3. 3

    Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something.

    Such corruption is commonplace in a world of supine civil servants and underfunded ministries.

  4. 4

    rareInclining or leaning backward; inclined, sloping.

noun

  1. 1

    In Latin and other languages: a type of verbal noun used in the ablative and accusative cases, which shares the same stem as the passive participle.

  2. 2

    In Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic and Old Norse: a verb form that combines with an inflection of ha/hafa/hava to form the present perfect and pluperfect tenses.

  3. 3

    (obsolete terminology) The 'to'-prefixed infinitive in English or other Germanic languages, so named because the infinitive was regarded as a verbal noun and the 'to'-prefixed form of it was seen as the dative form of the verbal noun; the full infinitive.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Supine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsupinal (lying on its back), supin (verbal noun)
Germanin Rückenlage (lying on its back), Lagewort, Supinum (verbal noun)
Portuguesesupino (lying on its back), passivo, letárgico (reluctant to take action), inclinado (inclining or leaning backward)
Spanishsupino, espalditendido (lying on its back), indolente (reluctant to take action)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does supine come from?

The adjective is borrowed from Latin supīnus, from *sup- (see sub (“under”)) + -īnus (“of, pertaining to”). The word is cognate with Catalan supí, Italian supino, Old French sovin, Middle French souvin, Anglo-Norman supin, Old Occitan sobin, sopin, Portuguese supino, Spanish supino. Partly displaced Old English upweard (“upward, supine”), whence Modern English upward. The noun is from Late Middle English supin (“supine of a Latin verb”) or Middle French supin (“(grammar) supine”), from Latin supīnum, (ellipsis of supīnum verbum (“supine verb”)), from supīnus; further etymology above.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after supine