inclinatus

Forms

inclīnātus (feminine inclīnāta, neuter inclīnātum); comparative inclīnātior; first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is the participle from Latin inclīnō (“to cause to lean, bend”), used as an adjective.^[1][2] inclīnō is a compound of in- and ⟨-clīnō⟩, which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kl(e)in-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱl-n(e)-i- (“to lean to, bend”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Cicero,^[4] whose verse translation of Aratus has the Ram turned more towards the south wind.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Literally it is sloping, bent forward or stooping, as Vitruvius' carvings and Calpurnius' old age leaning on a stick.^[1] Livy often uses it of minds or people favourably disposed, ready to believe or inclined to peace or war,^[1] and Curtius and Seneca of a natural tendency, to crime or to mildness;^[1] Pliny the Elder has colours shading into gold or yellow.^[1] Of the voice it is low and deep, as in the Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero's Orator and Quintilian.^[1] In grammar the TLL notes a use formed to render ἐγκλιτικός (enklitikós), for enclitic words in Priscian.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a constellation turned southward and of a deep voice.^[1][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of minds inclined to belief.^[1][4]
• 6th century AD – Priscian, of enclitic words.^[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Inclined, sloping; bent forward, stooping.^[1]
2. Turned, facing in a given direction.^[1]
3. Favourably disposed, inclined (to a party or policy).^[1]
4. Having a natural tendency (towards); of colours, shading off into.^[1]
5. Of the voice, low in pitch, deep.^[1]
6. (grammar) Enclitic.^[5]

Related words

• inclīnō
• inclīnātiō
• dēclīnō

Usage notes

A rare fourth-declension noun inclīnātus, -ūs, in Gellius, is the grammatical inflection or formation of a word.^[1][2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften