You have reached community.middlebury.edu. If you are looking for the Middlebury College Homepage, please click on the Middlebury College logo.
/suÂ·piÂ·naÂ·tion/ (sooâ³pÄ­-naÂ´shun) [L. supinatio ] the act of assuming the supine position, or the state of being supine. Applied to the hand, the act of turning the palm forward (anteriorly) or upward, performed by lateral rotation of the forearm. Applied to the foot, it generally implies movements resulting in raising of the medial margin of the foot, hence of the longitudinal arch.
In Islamic countries and cultures, a gesture involving exposing only the thumb in a vertical orientation â a thumbs up â is used in lieu of the finger to express roughly the same sentiment. A similarly obscene gesture is extending all five digits with the palm facing forward, meaning you have five fathers, thus calling someone a bastard.