Etymology: < incline v. Compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French enclin bow, act of inclining the head or body (first half of the 12th cent. in Old French), mental or emotional tendency (1554), Middle French inclin inclination (1524). Compare earlier inclination n., inclining n., and also earlier decline n.it is unclear whether the following instance of encline in the sense ‘bow, inclining of the head’ represents an earlier example of the present word (compare incline v. 1a(a) and α. forms at that entry) or whether it rather shows a borrowing of the Anglo-Norman and Middle French noun enclin in this sense:c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 83 He saluȝed the souerayne & the sale aftyr..and mad his enclines. N.E.D. (1900) also gives the pronunciation as (i·nˌkləin) /ɪnˈklaɪn/.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French encliner, incliner (French incliner ) to lower, bring down, to cause to slant, bend, or tilt (all first half of the 12th cent. in Old French), to stoop, to bow (12th cent.), to greet (a person) with a bow of the head (1213), to hang down (c1260), to tilt, lower (the head) (end of the 13th cent.), and also in prepositional phrases (with à ) to submit, to yield to (12th cent., originally reflexive), to condescend to (late 14th cent.), (with vers ) to have a tendency towards, to be disposed to (early 14th cent. or earlier), (with de ) to dispose (a person) to (early 14th cent. or earlier), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin inclīnāre to cause to lean or slope, to bend, to bend downwards, to lower, to turn (energies or attention) towards, to influence favourably, dispose, to direct, influence, (in grammar) to change a word by inflection, (reflexive, passive, or intransitive) to lean to one side, to sink, descend, to fall off, abate, to fall or lie down, to proceed, to change course, to have a tendency, to take a turn for the worse, deteriorate, in post-classical Latin also (of an enclitic) to throw back (the accent) (5th or 6th cent. in Priscian) < in- in- prefix³ + -clīnāre to bend (see procline v.).Compare Old Occitan enclinar , Catalan inclinar (14th cent.), Spanish inclinar (13th cent.; also †enclinar ), Portuguese inclinar (14th cent.; 13th cent. as †enclinar ), Italian inclinare (14th cent.). With use in sense 10 compare enclitic adj. The α. forms are the most frequent type in Middle English.