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acclivis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word acclivis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius
Ultimate origin
Latin clīvus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin clivus
Latin acclivis
From the same root
Latin clivosus ← clivus
Latin proclivis ← clivus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [akˈkliː.wɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [akˈkliː.vis][1]

Forms

acclīvis (neuter acclīve); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] A second-declension form acclīvus, -a, -um (also adclīvus) is much rarer;[2][3] Ovid has it.[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + clīvus (“slope”) + -is.[2][1][4][5] De Vaan traces clīvus to Proto-Italic *kle/oiwo- and to Proto-Indo-European *ḱloi-uo- (“slope, hill”) or *ḱlei-u̯o- (“sloping”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucilius, of a racecourse.[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means sloping upwards:[2][3] Cicero writes to his brother that a stretch of road is very steep (valdē acclīvis),[3] and Caesar describes an approach rising gently (leniter acclīvis).[3] Manilius uses the neuter plural acclīvia as a noun for upward slopes.[2] Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the sense “inclined upward, steep”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a racecourse.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero calls a part of a road very steep.[3][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar has leniter acclīvis, gently rising.[3][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the form acclīvus.[3][5]
  • 1st century AD – Manilius uses acclīvia for upward slopes.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sloping upwards, rising, uphill; steep.[2][3][1]

Noun

  1. (neuter plural, acclīvia) Upward slopes.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Acclivis.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/acclivis. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·