recline

See also: recliné

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin reclīnāre (“to bend back”). Compare decline, incline.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈklaɪn/, /ɹəˈklaɪn/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪn

Verb

recline (third-person singular simple present reclines, present participle reclining, simple past and past participle reclined)

1. (transitive) To cause to lean back; to bend back.
2. (transitive) To put in a resting position.

   She reclined her arms on the table and sighed.

   • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “On the Death of Amyntas. A Pastoral Elegy.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 249:

     The mother, lovely tho' with grief oppreſt, / Reclin'd his dying head upon her breaſt.

3. (intransitive) To lean back.

   to recline against a wall

4. (intransitive) To put oneself in a resting position.

   to recline on a couch

Conjugation

Conjugation of recline

infinitive	(to) recline
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	recline	reclined
2nd-person singular	recline, reclinest†	reclined, reclinedst†
3rd-person singular	reclines, reclineth†	reclined
plural	recline
subjunctive	recline	reclined
imperative	recline	—
participles	reclining	reclined

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Translations

to cause to lean back; to bend back

• Bulgarian: облягам (obljagam)
• Finnish: panna nojalleen
• Galician: reclinar
• German: zurücklehnen (de)
• Persian: بر پشت دراز کشیدن
• Portuguese: reclinar
• Russian: отки́дывать (ru) impf (otkídyvatʹ), отки́нуть (ru) pf (otkínutʹ) (наза́д)
• Tibetan: བཀྱེད (bkyed)

to put in a resting position

• Bulgarian: облягам (obljagam)
• Finnish: panna (fi), asettaa (fi)
• German: hinlegen (de)
• Portuguese: apoiar (pt)
• Russian: укла́дывать (ru) impf (ukládyvatʹ), уложи́ть (ru) pf (uložítʹ)
• Sanskrit: श्रयति (sa) (śrayati)
• Tibetan: གཞོགས་སྙེས་རྒྱག (gzhogs snyes rgyag)

to lean back

• Bulgarian: опирам се (opiram se), облягам се (obljagam se)
• Finnish: nojautua (fi)
• German: anlehnen (de)
• Latin: reclīnō
• Portuguese: reclinar
• Russian: отки́дываться (ru) impf (otkídyvatʹsja), отки́нуться (ru) pf (otkínutʹsja) (наза́д, на спи́нку кре́сла)
• Tibetan: སྙེས (snyes)

to put oneself in a resting position

• Bulgarian: излягам се (izljagam se)
• Finnish: käydä pitkäkseen
• Hebrew: הֵסֵב (he) (hesev)
• Maori: tīpapa, noho (mi)
• Portuguese: deitar (pt)
• Rapa Nui: moe
• Russian: полулежа́ть (ru) (poluležátʹ), сиде́ть отки́нувшись (sidétʹ otkínuvšisʹ)
• Tibetan: གན་རྐྱལ་ཉལ (gan rkyal nyal)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kuŝi (eo)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} reclinarse (es)

See also

• decline; incline; lie down; lie back

Noun

recline (plural reclines)

1. A mechanism for lowering the back of a seat to support a less upright position; Also, the action of lowering the back using such a mechanism.
   • 2013 December 22, Jad Mouawad, Martha C. White, New York Times, retrieved 23 December 2013:

     To gain a little more space, airlines are turning to a new generation of seats that use lighter materials and less padding, moving the magazine pocket above the tray table and even reducing or eliminating the recline in seats.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /reˈkliː.ne/, [rɛˈklʲiːnɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /reˈkli.ne/, [reˈkliːne]

Adjective

reclīne

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of reclīnis

Portuguese

Verb

recline

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

Spanish

Verb

recline

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