Hypertext Webster Gateway: "tendency"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
Writings of this kind, if conducted with candor, have a
more particular tendency to the good of their country.
--Addison.
In every experimental science, there is a tendency
toward perfection. --Macaulay.
Syn: Disposition; inclination; proneness; drift; scope; aim.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (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}]
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