different between knack vs inclination

English

Etymology

Use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak (“a sharp blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German, by onomatopoeia. Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næk/
• Audio (UK)

• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

knack (plural knacks)

1. A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. [from 1580]

   Synonyms: skill, facility, dexterity

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 254a.

     The sophist runs for cover to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;
2. A petty contrivance; a toy.

   Synonyms: plaything, knickknack, toy

3. Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity. [from mid 14th c.]

   Synonyms: trick, device

Derived terms

• knackless

Translations

Verb

knack (third-person singular simple present knacks, present participle knacking, simple past and past participle knacked)

1. (obsolete, Britain, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
2. To speak affectedly.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English inclinacioun, inclinacyon, from Old French inclination and Latin incl?n?ti?.Morphologically incline +? -ation

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n.kl??ne?.??n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

inclination (countable and uncountable, plural inclinations)

1. A physical tilt or bend.

2. A slant or slope.

4. A mental tendency.

5. (geometry) The angle of intersection of a reference plane

6. (obsolete) A person or thing loved or admired.
   • c. 1672-1679, William Temple, Memoirs

     you make will be a Discovery of your Inclinations

   • c. 1771, John Adams, speaking in a trial

     Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Synonyms

• (slant or slope): incline, inclining, steepness
• (tendency): leaning, proclivity, propensity

Derived terms

• inclinational

Related terms

• inclinable
• incline
• inclined plane
• inclinometer

Translations

Anagrams

• anilinction

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin incl?n?ti?, incl?n?ti?nem. See also inclinaison.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.kli.na.sj??/

Noun

inclination f (plural inclinations)

1. inclination (all senses)

Related terms

• incliner

Further reading

• “inclination” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).