Etymograph

English

declivity

Declivity comes from French déclivité ‘slope, incline, declivity’, from Latin dēclīvis ‘sloping downwards’, and ultimately from clīvus ‘slope’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclīvus1‘slope’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēclīvis2‘sloping downwards’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēclīvitās3as declivitatem‘a declivity’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentdéclivité3‘slope, incline, declivity’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1726declivity3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin declivis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin declivitas
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English declivity
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1726, Jonathan Swift, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”: “The Declivity was ſo ſmall, that I walked near…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclīvusWiktionary, Latin declivis‘slope’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēclīvisWiktionary, Latin declivitas‘sloping downwards’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēclīvitāsWiktionary, English declivityas declivitatem‘a declivity’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentdéclivitéWiktionary, English declivity‘slope, incline, declivity’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1726declivityWiktionary, English declivity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1726, Jonathan Swift, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”: “The Declivity was ſo ſmall, that I walked near…”

Linked words

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

law, low, climate, lean, ladder, lid, climax, inclination, eyelid, incline, clinician, cline, declension, declination, proclivity, 26 more

Today it means

noun The downward slope of a curve.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “declivity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin declivis, Latin declivitas. 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 / declivity

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