n.
Pronunciation: ' ten-d ə n(t)-s ē
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -cies
Etymology: Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendent-, tendens, present participle of tendere
Date: 1628
1 a : direction or approach toward a place, object, effect, or limit b : a proneness to a particular kind of thought or action
2 a : the purposeful trend of something written or said : AIM b : deliberate but indirect advocacy
synonyms TENDENCY , TREND , DRIFT , TENOR , CURRENT mean movement in a particular direction. TENDENCY implies an inclination sometimes amounting to an impelling force <a general tendency toward inflation>. TREND applies to the general direction maintained by a winding or irregular course <the long-term trend of the stock market is upward>. DRIFT may apply to a tendency determined by external forces <the drift of the population away from large cities> or it may apply to an underlying or obscure trend of meaning or discourse <got the drift of her argument>. TENOR stresses a clearly perceptible direction and a continuous, undeviating course <the tenor of the times>. CURRENT implies a clearly defined but not necessarily unalterable course <an encounter that changed the current of my life>.