inclinatio

Forms

inclīnātiō f (genitive inclīnātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inclīnō (“to bend, incline”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1] A gloss of Jerome explains the name Lot as “inclination”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL lists it in Varro, Cicero and Livy,^[3] and Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[4] who uses it of the swerve of the atoms in On the Nature of the Gods and lists it among the movements of the body.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is a leaning, bending or tilting to one side, of the body, a battering ram or a ship, and a downward movement.^[2][5] Vitruvius uses it of slope or obliquity, and of the inclination of the sky, which he says the Greeks call klimata.^[2] Figuratively it is a tendency or inclination of the feelings and will, as Cicero hopes a judge will lean towards his side, of circumstances and of character.^[2][5] It is also a change or turn in events, as Cicero's sudden shift of feeling at the consular elections, often a change for the worse.^[2] Church Latin glosses it tendency, inclination,^[6] and Medieval Latin uses it of condescension and of subjugation.^[7] English inclination (late 14th century) comes from French and directly from Latin.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the swerve of atoms and of the will.^[2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of slope and of the inclination of the sky.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English inclination is formed from it, through French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leaning, bending or tilting to one side; a swerve; a rocking motion; a descent.^[2][5][1]
2. Obliquity, slope; a leaning posture of the body.^[2][1]
3. The adaptation of a rule to suit some purpose.^[2]
4. A tendency or inclination of the will, of events or of character; favour.^[2][5][6][1]
5. A change or turn in events; a change for the worse.^[2][5]
6. (Medieval Latin) Condescension; subjugation.^[7]

Related words

• English inclination

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com