inclinationnoun/ˌɪn.klɪˈneɪ.ʃən/

• 1

  A physical tilt or bend.

  • The inclination of his head increased and he awoke with a start.
• 2

  A slant or slope.

  • The road up to the house had a steep inclination.
  • The gradients on the western part of the line are generally easy, although there is a rise at 1 in 55 before Manorbier, and a fall at the same inclination beyond that station.
• 3

  A tendency.

  • His inclination to drink escalated to alcoholism.
  • It should be remembered, however, that [Sir Thomas] Lawrence, who was now in demand, was charging from eighty to a hundred guineas for even his smallest portraits, a sum which would have been far beyond the pocket or inclination of the canny North countryman [George Stephenson], who had little use for empty honours.
• 4

  geometrymathematicssciencesThe angle of intersection of a reference plane.

  • The astronomer calculated the inclination of the equator or ecliptic of Earth and the orbital planes of each visible heavenly body.
  • Artillery must take account of a weapon's precise inclination.
• 5

  obsoleteA person or thing loved or admired.

  • c. 1672-1679, William Temple, Memoirs you make will be a Discovery of your Inclinations
  • c. 1771, John Adams, speaking in a trial Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.