declivity

Etymology

Dates from the 1610s, from French déclivité, from Latin declivitatem, dēclīvitās, from dēclivis ("a sloping downward"), from de ("down") and clīvus ("a slope"), tracing back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱleywo-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- ("to lean") (compare English lean).