inclination

From Middle English inclinacioun, inclinacyon, from Old French inclination and Latin inclīnātiō. Morphologically incline +‎ -ation.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.klɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, /ˌɪn.kləˈneɪ.ʃən/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.kləˈnæɪ.ʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: in‧cli‧na‧tion

inclination (countable and uncountable, plural inclinations)

1. A physical tilt or bend.

   The inclination of his head increased and he awoke with a start.

2. A slant or slope.

   The road up to the house had a steep inclination.

   • 1959 October, H. A. Vallance, “The Pembroke & Tenby Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 668:

     The gradients on the western part of the line are generally easy, although there is a rise at 1 in 55 before Manorbier, and a fall at the same inclination beyond that station.

4. A tendency.

   His inclination to drink escalated to alcoholism.

5. (geometry) The angle of intersection of a reference plane.

   The astronomer calculated the inclination of the equator or ecliptic of Earth and the orbital planes of each visible heavenly body.

   Artillery must take account of a weapon's precise inclination.

6. (obsolete) A person or thing loved or admired.
   • c. 1672-1679, William Temple, Memoirs

     you make will be a Discovery of your Inclinations

   • c. 1771, John Adams, speaking in a trial

     Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

• (slant or slope): incline, inclining, steepness
• (tendency): leaning, proclivity, propensity

• inclinable
• incline
• inclined plane
• inclinometer

• anilinction

Borrowed from Latin inclīnātiōnem. See also inclinaison.

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.kli.na.sjɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

inclination f (plural inclinations)

1. inclination (all senses)

• enclin
• incliner

• “inclination”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012