Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of inclining or the state of being inclined; a bend or tilt.
  • noun A deviation or the degree of deviation from the horizontal or vertical; a slant.
  • noun The angle between two lines or planes.
  • noun An inclined surface; a slope.
  • noun A characteristic disposition or tendency to act in a certain way; a propensity.
  • noun A preference or liking.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of inclining, or the state of being inclined; a leaning; any deviation from a given direction or position.
  • noun In geometry and mech., the mutual approach, tendency, or leaning of two bodies, lines, or planes toward each other, so as to make an angle at the point where they meet, or where their lines of direction meet. This angle is called the angle of inclination.
  • noun The angle which a line or plane makes with the horizon; declivity.
  • noun An inclined surface; a slope or declivity, as of land.
  • noun A set or bent of the mind or will; a disposition more favorable to one thing or person than to another; a leaning, liking, or preference: as, an inclination for poetry; a strong inclination toward law.
  • noun A person for whom or a thing for which one has a liking or preference.
  • noun In Greek and Latin grammar, same as enclisis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of inclining, or state of being inclined; a leaning.
  • noun A direction or tendency from the true vertical or horizontal direction.
  • noun A tendency towards another body or point.
  • noun (Geom.) The angle made by two lines or planes
  • noun A leaning or tendency of the mind, feelings, preferences, or will; propensity; a disposition more favorable to one thing than to another; favor; desire; love.
  • noun A person or thing loved or admired.
  • noun (Pharm.) Decantation, or tipping for pouring.
  • noun an inclinometer.
  • noun (Astron.) the angle which the orbit makes with the ecliptic.
  • noun See Dip of the needle, under Dip.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A physical tilt or bend
  • noun A slant or slope
  • noun A mental tendency
  • noun geometry The angle of intersection of a reference plane
  • noun obsolete A person or thing loved or admired.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon
  • noun the act of inclining; bending forward
  • noun a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect
  • noun (astronomy) the angle between the plane of the orbit and the plane of the ecliptic stated in degrees
  • noun the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
  • noun that toward which you are inclined to feel a liking
  • noun an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others
  • noun (geometry) the angle formed by the x-axis and a given line (measured counterclockwise from the positive half of the x-axis)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

to incline (itself from Old French encliner, from Latin inclinare) + -ation, or Latin inclinatio

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Examples

Comments

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  • I found this in an article called "Waves Shape Us", author is Evan Slater. It is used in the sentence as followed, "Yes, they possess certain natural abilities and inclinations to make them who they are.."

    September 22, 2010