tendency
Pluraltendencies
- 1An inclination to behave in a certain way, or a drift in a particular direction.
The committee noted a worrying tendency toward overspending each quarter.
Older bridges have a tendency to develop cracks under heavy traffic.
Similarinclination, propensity, trend, leaning
Note
The general sense comes from Medieval Latin tendentia, built on tendens, the present participle of tendō. In use it settles into two constructions. Have a tendency to takes a verb, as in denim has a tendency to fade. A tendency toward takes a noun. Add among when the habit belongs to a whole group: a common tendency among first-time visitors to bet cautiously.
- 2A distinct, organized group that forms one faction of a larger political party or organization.
The party's left tendency pushed for nationalizing the railways.
Rival tendencies competed for control of the movement's leadership.
Note
In political writing the word names a group held together by a shared line. Its steady companion is within the party, and an adjective usually supplies the line: the Europeanist tendency, the conformist tendency, the vulgar materialist tendency. Writers set it beside faction, yet it keeps something of the everyday sense of leaning: a common direction pulling inside a larger body.
Practice
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Origin
From Medieval Latin tendentia, from tendens, the present participle of the verb tendō.