INCLINATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does inclination mean? 

• INCLINATION (noun)
  The noun INCLINATION has 8 senses:

1. an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others

2. (astronomy) the angle between the plane of the orbit and the plane of the ecliptic stated in degrees

3. (geometry) the angle formed by the x-axis and a given line (measured counterclockwise from the positive half of the x-axis)

4. (physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon

5. that toward which you are inclined to feel a liking

6. the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical

7. a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect

8. the act of inclining; bending forward

  Familiarity information: INCLINATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INCLINATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

disposition; inclination; tendency

Context example:

a tendency to be too strict

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

attitude; mental attitude (a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inclination"):

sympathy; understanding (an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion)

impartiality; nonpartisanship (an inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally)

partiality; partisanship (an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives)

disapproval; disfavor; disfavour; dislike (an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group)

favor; favour (an inclination to approve)

predisposition (an inclination beforehand to interpret statements in a particular way)

perseveration (the tendency for a memory or idea to persist or recur without any apparent stimulus for it)

literalism (a disposition to interpret statements in their literal sense)

bent; set (a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way)

leaning; proclivity; propensity (a natural inclination)

favoritism; favouritism (an inclination to favor some person or group)

devices (an inclination or desire; used in the plural in the phrase 'left to your own devices')

denominationalism (the tendency, in Protestantism, to separate into religious denominations or to advocate such separations)

Call (a special disposition (as if from a divine source) to pursue a particular course)

drift; movement; trend (a general tendency to change (as of opinion))

direction (a general course along which something has a tendency to develop)

Derivation:

incline (make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief)

incline (have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(astronomy) the angle between the plane of the orbit and the plane of the ecliptic stated in degrees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

inclination; inclination of an orbit

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

angle (the space between two lines or planes that intersect; the inclination of one line to another; measured in degrees or radians)

Domain category:

astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)

Derivation:

incline (be at an angle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(geometry) the angle formed by the x-axis and a given line (measured counterclockwise from the positive half of the x-axis)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

angle of inclination; inclination

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

angle (the space between two lines or planes that intersect; the inclination of one line to another; measured in degrees or radians)

Domain category:

geometry (the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces)

Derivation:

incline (be at an angle)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(physics) the angle that a magnetic needle makes with the plane of the horizon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

angle of dip; dip; inclination; magnetic dip; magnetic inclination

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

angle (the space between two lines or planes that intersect; the inclination of one line to another; measured in degrees or radians)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Derivation:

incline (be at an angle)

Sense 5

Meaning:

That toward which you are inclined to feel a liking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Context example:

her inclination is for classical music

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

liking (a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inclination"):

leaning; propensity; tendency (an inclination to do something)

stomach (an inclination or liking for things involving conflict or difficulty or unpleasantness)

undertow (an inclination contrary to the strongest or prevailing feeling)

Antonym:

disinclination (that toward which you are inclined to feel dislike)

Derivation:

incline (make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief)

incline (have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

inclination; lean; leaning; list; tilt

Context example:

he walked with a heavy inclination to the right

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)

Derivation:

incline (be at an angle)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

inclination; tendency

Context example:

fabric with a tendency to shrink

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

disposition (a natural or acquired habit or characteristic tendency in a person or thing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inclination"):

heterosis; hybrid vigor ((genetics) the tendency of a crossbred organism to have qualities superior to those of either parent)

buoyancy (the tendency to float in water or other liquid)

electronegativity; negativity ((chemistry) the tendency of an atom or radical to attract electrons in the formation of an ionic bond)

stainability ((cytology) the capacity of cells or cell parts to stain specifically with certain dyes)

desire (an inclination to want things)

Derivation:

incline (have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The act of inclining; bending forward

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

inclination; inclining

Context example:

an inclination of his head indicated his agreement

Hypernyms ("inclination" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inclination"):

nod (the act of nodding the head)

stoop (an inclination of the top half of the body forward and downward)

bob (a short abrupt inclination (as of the head))

Derivation:

incline (lower or bend (the head or upper body), as in a nod or bow)

 Context examples 

Shortly afterward, Sir Thomas was again interfering a little with her inclination, by advising her to go immediately to bed.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

She had no longer any inclination to talk to him.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She ran away to indulge the inclination, leaving the tender and the sublime of pleasure to Harriet's share.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

But seeing how strongly she desired to remain quiet, and feeling that it was my own natural inclination too, at such a time, I did not attempt to break the silence.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She ought not to have much inclination for sleep-walking then.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was a foolish, idle inclination on my side, said he, the consequence of ignorance of the world—and want of employment.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

My own inclinations are to push this inquiry on, for we have already lost so much time that we cannot afford to waste another hour.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He spoke in little, sharp, jerky outbursts, and it seemed to me that to speak at all was very painful to him, and that his will all through was overriding his inclinations.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He perceived her inclination, and having again urged the plea of health in vain, was too polite to make further opposition.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Yes, in a passive way: I make no effort; I follow as inclination guides me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)