incline
/ɪnˈklaɪn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.15 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.
Transitive verb
verb
To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.
Intransitive verb
noun
A slope.
Example Sentences
- "He had to incline his body against the gusts to avoid being blown down in the storm."
- "The people following the coffin inclined their heads in grief."
- "Over the centuries the wind made the walls of the farmhouse incline."
- "He inclines to believe anything he reads in the newspapers."
- "I'm inclined to give up smoking after hearing of the risks to my health."
- ""My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;[…].""
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥néyti ~ *ḱl̥nyénti Proto-Italic *kl(e)inō Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō ▲ Proto-Italic *klei- ~ *kli-influ. Latin clīnō Latin inclīnāre Old French enclinerbor. Middle English enclinen English incline From Middle English enclinen, from Old French encliner (modern incliner), from Latin inclīnō (“incline, tilt”), from in- + clīnō (compare -cline), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: enclinen, encliner, inclīnō, *ḱley-