declivity

American  

[dih-kliv-i-tee] / dɪˈklɪv ɪ ti /

noun

• declivities
  plural

1. a downward slope, as of ground (opposed to acclivity).

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declivity British  

/ dɪˈklɪvɪtɪ /

noun

1. a downward slope, esp of the ground Compare acclivity

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• declivitous
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• declivities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of declivity

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin dēclīvitās “a slope, hill,” equivalent to dēclīvi(s) “sloping downward” ( dē- prefix indicating downward motion + clīv(us) “slope, hill” + -is adjective suffix) + -tās noun suffix; see de-, -ty ²

Explanation

If you're standing at the top of a hill looking down to the bottom, you're staring down a declivity, a downward slope of any kind. The word declivity comes from the Latin words de, which means "down," and clivus, which means "slope." If you're at the bottom of the hill looking up, you'll see the opposite of a declivity. From that position you'll be looking at an acclivity, an upward slope.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

declivity declivities

Now we were east of the trail, meandering across a treeless declivity with no obvious route at our feet.

From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022

Fires in the region often start in this steep and inaccessible declivity, served by a single main road that meanders alongside the water.

From The Guardian ● May 5, 2020

A sharp declivity separated the rear of the patrol from those farther up the hill.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2012

In 1905, pilgrims carrying everything on their backs had assembled it near a declivity used for Christian worship since about the 11th century, and possibly for ritual murder long before that.

From Washington Post

Siddhartha wandered along a strange, twisted path of this last and most base declivity through the game of dice.

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

Tucked into this landscape are hidden canyons, plunging declivities formed by water and wind, spots the novelist Denis Johnson once referred to as the “secrets of the horizons,” and today I am heading for one.

From New York Times ● May 14, 2012

He knew, in Yeats' phrase, their dark declivities.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dragging their mountain artillery through profound snowdrifts, up incredible declivities, they slowly encircled Rombak Heights, moving patiently from crag to crag to blast German machine-gun nests on crags opposite.

From Time Magazine Archive

But Jack was pointing to the high declivities that led down from the mountain to the flatter part of the island.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

Sand, clay, tufa, with beds of peat and gravel, are the components of the soil which is found filling up the declivities of mountains, covering low-lands and sea-beaches in this part of the island.

From Alone with the Hairy Ainu or, 3,800 miles on a pack saddle in Yezo and a cruise to the Kurile Islands. by A. H. Savage Landor