proclivity
noun

- a strong, often inborn tendency or inclination toward a particular behaviour, interest, or type of activity — the word carries a slight suggestion that one is being pulled in that direction without fully choosing to be.

- a natural predisposition that consistently shapes a person's choices, tastes, or conduct, typically in ways that are noticeable to others and revealing of character.

Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

Here is a word that tells you everything about itself the moment you know its Latin bones. Proclivity comes from the Latin proclivitas, which in turn derives from proclivis — a compound of pro- (forward) and clivus (a slope). The Romans used clivus for any inclined surface: a hillside, a ramp, a descent. Put pro- in front and you get something leaning forward, tilting naturally downward in a particular direction. Proclivitas was the Roman word for that quality of sloping — a steepness, a tendency to slide.

English borrowed it in the late 16th century, keeping the physical metaphor alive. To have a proclivity is to be on a gentle slope toward something: you don't rush there, you drift. The word entered use at around the same time as declivity (a downward slope) and acclivity (an upward one), all cousins from the same clivus root, though today only proclivity has survived in regular educated conversation.

What makes proclivity useful — and faintly elegant — is its neutrality of agency. A habit suggests repeated choice. A compulsion suggests lost control. A proclivity sits squarely between: it is something you are drawn to, reliably, perhaps helplessly, but with a certain dignity intact.

Politicians have proclivities. Markets have proclivities. So do artists, dogs, and — if we're being honest — readers presented with interesting words early in the morning.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

aptness, bent, bias, cast of mind, characteristic, constitution, disposition, drift, facility, gravitation, habit, impulse, inclination, instinct, knack, lean, leaning, liking, partiality, penchant, predilection, predisposition, preference, PROCLIVITY, propensity, pull, readiness, set, slant, soft spot, susceptibility, taste, temperament, tendency, tilt, turn, weakness

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

"Knowing the PROCLIVITY of a counterpart for a particular kind of language, is helpful for resonating with them."

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