incline

Alternative forms

• encline (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French encliner (modern incliner), from Latin inclīnō (“incline, tilt”), from in- + clīnō (compare -cline), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪn

• Audio (US)

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• (verb) enPR: ĭnklīn', IPA^(key): /ɪnˈklaɪn/
• (noun) enPR: ĭn'klīn, IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.klaɪn/

Verb

incline (third-person singular simple present inclines, present participle inclining, simple past and past participle inclined)

1. (transitive) To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.

   He had to incline his body against the gusts to avoid being blown down in the storm.

   The people following the coffin inclined their heads in grief.

2. (intransitive) To slope.

   Over the centuries the wind made the walls of the farmhouse incline.

3. To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.

   He inclines to believe anything he reads in the newspapers.

   I'm inclined to give up smoking after hearing of the risks to my health.

   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 24962326:

     "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."

   • (Can we date this quote?), J. M. G. van der Poel, "Agriculture in Pre- and Protohistoric Times", in the Acta Historiae Neerlandica published by the Netherlands Committee of Historical Sciences, p.170:

     The terp farmer made use of the plough, as is shown by the discovery of three ploughshares and four coulters. […] Those who inclined to the stock-breeding theory based their arguments on the absence of ploughs, […].

   • Usage note: In this sense incline is usually used in the passive voice, and usually intransitively.

Noun

incline (plural inclines)

1. A slope.
   • To reach the building, we had to climb a steep incline.

Further reading

• incline in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• incline in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• incline at OneLook Dictionary Search

Verb

incline

1. first-person singular present indicative of incliner
2. third-person singular present indicative of incliner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of incliner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of incliner
5. second-person singular imperative of incliner

Verb

incline

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of inclinar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of inclinar

Adjective

incline (masculine and feminine plural inclini)

1. inclined, prone

Verb

incline

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of inclinar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of inclinar
3. third-person singular imperative of inclinar

Verb

incline

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of inclinar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of inclinar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of inclinar.