incline

See also: incliné

English

Alternative forms

• encline (obsolete)

Etymology

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).

Pronunciation

• (verb) enPR: ĭnklīn', IPA^(key): /ɪnˈklaɪn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -aɪn
• (noun) enPR: ĭn'klīn, IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.klaɪn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɪnklaɪn

Verb

incline (third-person singular simple present inclines, present participle inclining, simple past and past participle inclined)

1. (transitive) To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.

   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.

2. (intransitive) To slope.

   Over the centuries the wind made the walls of the farmhouse incline.

3. (chiefly intransitive, chiefly passive voice) To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.

   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.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     "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; […]."

   • 1966, J. M. G. van der Poel, "Agriculture in Pre- and Protohistoric Times", in the Acta Historiae Neerlandica published by the Netherlands Committee of Historical Sciences, p.170:

     The terp farmer made use of the plough, as is shown by the discovery of three ploughshares and four coulters. […] Those who inclined to the stock-breeding theory based their arguments on the absence of ploughs, […].

Related terms

• inclination

Translations

bend (something) out of a given plane or direction

• Bulgarian: накланям (bg) (naklanjam)
• Catalan: inclinar (ca)
• Czech: sklopit (cs), ohnout (cs), naklonit (cs)
• German: neigen (de)
• Latgalian: līkt
• Latvian: liekt
• Norwegian: inklinere
• Old English: būgan
• Portuguese: inclinar (pt)
• Quechua: chinruykachiy
• Romanian: apleca (ro)
• Russian: наклоня́ть (ru) impf (naklonjátʹ), наклони́ть (ru) pf (naklonítʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: chyliś impf

• Telugu: వాలుట (vāluṭa)

slope

• Bulgarian: накланям се (naklanjam se)
• German: neigen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (hneiwan)
• Indonesian: miring (id)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھەوراز (ckb) (hewraz)

• Maori: pānanaki (upwards), pānaki (upwards), uataha
• Portuguese: inclinar (pt)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: chyliś impf

• Sundanese: sempong
• Telugu: ఏటవాలు (te) (ēṭavālu)

to tend to do or believe something

• Bulgarian: клоня (bg) (klonja)
• Catalan: inclinar (ca)
• Czech: tíhnout, přiklánět se
• Dutch: neigen (nl)
• German: neigen (de)
• Portuguese: tender (pt)
• Telugu: అంగీకరించుట (te) (aṅgīkariñcuṭa)

Noun

incline (plural inclines)

1. A slope.

   To reach the building, we had to climb a steep incline.

2. A portal of a subway tunnel.

   the Pleasant Street Incline

Derived terms

• incline elevator
• incline lift

 

Related terms

• climate
• cline
• decline
• recline

Translations

slope

• Azerbaijani: əydəm
• Bulgarian: наклон (bg) m (naklon)
• Czech: sráz (cs) m, svah (cs) m
• German: Neigung (de) f, Anstieg (de) m, Gefälle (de) n
• Greek: κεκλιμένο επίπεδο n (kekliméno epípedo)

  Ancient: κλίμα n (klíma)

• Hungarian: lejtő (hu)
• Latin: clīvus m
• Maori: pānaunau, pānakitanga (if gentle)
• Russian: накло́н (ru) m (naklón), укло́н (ru) m (uklón), скат (ru) m (skat), склон (ru) m (sklon)
• Telugu: ఏటవాలు (te) (ēṭavālu)
• Ukrainian: на́хил m (náxyl), схил m (sxyl)

Further reading

• “incline”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “incline”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “incline”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• -nicline

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

incline

1. inflection of incliner:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

Verb

incline

1. inflection of inclinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈkli.ne/
• Rhymes: -ine
• Hyphenation: in‧clì‧ne

Adjective

incline (plural inclini)

1. inclined, prone

   Synonyms: facile, propenso

Portuguese

Verb

incline

1. inflection of inclinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

incline

1. inflection of inclinar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative