incliner

Forms

incliner^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inclīnō (“to make lean, bend”), formed from in- (“towards”) and a verb found only with prefixes.^[2][3][1] Rey traces this verb to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *klei- (“to lean”).^[3][4]

It replaced the inherited encliner, which continues the same Latin verb and was used from 1080 in the Chanson de Roland for bowing to someone;^[3][5][2] Bloch and Wartburg call the modern verb a remaking of the old one after the Latin; the old verb held out until the early 17th century, probably supported by the adjective enclin.^[6][3][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan enclinar, Spanish inclinar and Italian inchinare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in 1213 in the Faits des Romains, has the sense of the older encliner: to greet someone by bowing the head.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Late in the 13th century it meant to bend or lower, first the head.^[2][3] Abstract uses soon followed: incliner qqn à “to dispose someone to” (1327),^[3][5] the intransitive incliner à “to be favourable to” (1358) and “to tend towards” (1370–1372, Oresme), then in the 17th century, of things, “to tend, move towards” (1636).^[2][3] In the early 16th century it also meant to subdue someone.^[2]

The reflexive s'incliner “to bend down, bow” dates from 1532,^[3] and the transitive “to set at a slant” appears in 1596, in Hulsius.^[2][3] S'incliner devant qqn “to show respect, to acknowledge someone's authority” dates from 1683, and in the late 19th century s'incliner came to mean to admit defeat.^[3] The derivative inclinaison (1639) was coined for the physical sense, leaving inclination mostly to the moral one.^[6]

Timeline

• 1080 – The inherited encliner in the Chanson de Roland.^[3][5]
• 1213 – Incliner “to greet by bowing” in the Faits des Romains.^[2]
• late 13th century – “To bend, lower (the head)”.^[2][3]
• 1327 – “To dispose someone to something”.^[3][5]
• 1358 – Incliner à “to be favourable to”.^[2]
• 1596 – “To set at a slant”, in Hulsius.^[2]
• early 17th century – Encliner goes out of use.^[6][3]
• 1683 – S'incliner devant qqn “to show respect”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make slant, set at an angle, tilt: incliner une bouteille (to tilt a bottle).^[9][2]
2. To bend or lower the head or body, to bow.^[9][2]
3. (figurative) To make someone inclined to: tout l'incline à refuser (everything disposes him to refuse).^[9][3]
4. (intransitive) Incliner à, vers: to tend towards, to be disposed to.^[2][3]
5. S'incliner: to bow, to show respect.^[2][3]
6. S'incliner: to give way, admit defeat.^[3]

Word family

• inclinaison

Related words

• inclination
• enclin
• Latin inclīnō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 626b
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert