Etymograph

English

acclivity

Acclivity comes from Latin acclīvitās ‘slope, ascent’, and goes back to clīvus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclīvus1‘slope’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacclīvis1‘ascending’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacclīvitās1‘slope, ascent’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1797acclivity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English acclivity
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1797, Ann Radcliffe: “how gaily vineyards and olives alternately chequer the acclivities”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclīvusWiktionary, English acclivity‘slope’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacclīvisWiktionary, English acclivity‘ascending’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacclīvitāsWiktionary, English acclivity‘slope, ascent’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1797acclivityWiktionary, English acclivity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1797, Ann Radcliffe: “how gaily vineyards and olives alternately chequer the acclivities”

first attested First attested in 1614 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1614.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- ‘to lean’

law, low, climate, lean, decline, ladder, lid, climax, inclination, eyelid, incline, clinician, cline, declension, declination, proclivity, 25 more

Today it means

noun A slope or inclination of the earth, as the side of a hill, considered as ascending, in opposition to declivity, or descending; an upward slope; ascent.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “acclivity”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin clīvus / acclivity

Shirt and support for this word