3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
tendency
noun
1: an attitude of mind especially one that favors one
alternative over others; "he had an inclination to give
up too easily"; "a tendency to be too strict" [syn: {inclination},
{disposition}]
2: an inclination to do something; "he felt leanings toward
frivolity" [syn: {leaning}, {propensity}]
3: a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward
a certain condition or character or effect; "the alkaline
inclination of the local waters"; "fabric with a tendency
to shrink" [syn: {inclination}]
4: a general direction in which something tends to move; "the
shoreward tendency of the current"; "the trend of the
stock market" [syn: {trend}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tendency \Tend"en*cy\, noun; pl. {Tendencies}. [L. tendents,
-entis, p. pr. of tendere: cf. F. tendance. See {Tend} to
move.]
Direction or course toward any place, object, effect, or
result; drift; causal or efficient influence to bring about
an effect or result.
Writings of this kind, if conducted with candor, have a
more particular tendency to the good of their country.
--Addison.
In every experimental science, there is a tendency
toward perfection. --Macaulay.
Syn: Disposition; inclination; proneness; drift; scope; aim.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
153 Moby Thesaurus words for "tendency":
affinity, aim, an ear for, an eye for, animus, aptitude, aptness,
azimuth, bag, bearing, bent, bias, body-build, brand, capacity for,
cast, chance, character, characteristic, characteristics,
chosen kind, complexion, composition, constituents, constitution,
course, crasis, cup of tea, current, curve, custom, dharma,
diathesis, direction, direction line, disposition, drift, druthers,
eccentricity, ethos, expectation, fair expectation, fancy, favor,
favorable prospect, felicity, fiber, flair, frame, genius,
genius for, gift for, good chance, grain, habit, heading,
helmsmanship, hue, humor, humors, idiosyncrasy, ilk, inclination,
inclining, individualism, innate aptitude, kidney, kind, lay,
leaning, liability, lie, likelihood, likeliness, line,
line of direction, line of march, make, makeup, mental set, mettle,
mind, mind-set, mold, movement, nature, navigation, odds,
orientation, outlook, partiality, particular choice, penchant,
personal choice, physique, piloting, point, predilection,
predisposition, preference, prejudice, prepossession, presumption,
presumptive evidence, probabilism, probability, proclivity,
proneness, propensity, property, prospect, quality, quarter, range,
readiness, reasonable ground, reasonable hope, run, set, shift,
slant, somatotype, sort, spirit, stamp, steerage, steering, strain,
streak, stripe, style, suchness, susceptibility, system, taste,
temper, temperament, tenor, thing, tone, track, trend, turn,
turn for, turn of mind, twist, type, usage, vein, verisimilitude,
warp, way, well-grounded hope
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