Tendency

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tendency \Tend"en*cy\, n.; 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.


     [1913 Webster]
  
           Writings of this kind, if conducted with candor, have a
           more particular tendency to the good of their country.
                                                    --Addison.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           In every experimental science, there is a tendency
           toward perfection.                       --Macaulay.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Disposition; inclination; proneness; drift; scope; aim.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  tendency
       n 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 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