declivity

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 21, 2010 is: declivity • \di-KLIV-uh-tee\  • noun 1 : downward inclination 2 : a descending slope Examples: The hikers cautiously made their way down the somewhat steep and rocky declivity that led to the river. Did you know? Three different English words descend from "clivus," the Latin word for "slope" or "hill" -- with the help of three Latin prefixes. "Declivity" combines "clivus" with the prefix "de-," meaning "down" or "away." "Acclivity" uses "ad-" (which may change its second letter depending on the root word), meaning "to" or "toward." Hence, an acclivity is an upward slope. The third word has a figurative meaning in English: "proclivity" makes use of the prefix "pro-," meaning "forward," and this word refers to a personal inclination, predisposition, or "leaning." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.