Declivity

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɪˈklɪvɪti/

Origin

1610s, from French déclivité, from Latin declivitatem/dēclīvitās,

from dēclivis ("a sloping downward"), from de ("down") + clīvus ("a slope"), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱleywo-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- ("to lean") (English lean).

Online Etymology Dictionary|declivity

Full definition of declivity

Noun

1. (geomorphology) the downward slope of a hill
• 1899, Joseph Conrad, ,A rocky cliff appeared, mounds of turned–up earth by the shore, houses on a hill, others with iron roofs, amongst a waste of excavations, or hanging to the declivity.
2. a downward bend in a path

Related terms

• decline