A steady lean in one direction. Nothing has happened yet, but the pull is already there — leave it alone and this is the way it will go.
From the word’s history
From Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendere — to stretch, to stretch out toward. The same root gives extend, intend, tension: something is being pulled taut in a particular direction.
這個字來自中世紀拉丁文 tendentia，源頭是拉丁文 tendere——「拉伸、朝某個方向伸展」。同一個根長出 extend（往外伸）、intend（心往某處伸＝打算）、tension（被拉緊的張力）。看懂 tendere，tendency 的畫面就出來了：有一條看不見的線正把某樣東西往某個方向拉。不是已經到了，是正被拉著。這也解釋了為什麼這個字總帶著「方向感」而不是「結果」——拉力可以被抵抗，只是不抵抗的話就會順著走。
Wiktionary, "tendency" (English noun): from Medieval Latin tendentia < Latin tendēns, present participle of tendō ("I stretch, extend, aim")
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原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
tendencynoun/ˈtɛn.dən.si/
- 1
A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.
- Denim has a tendency to fade.
- I have a tendency to get bored after the first half an hour of a movie.
- 2
governmentpoliticsAn organised unit or faction within a larger political organisation.
- Mao launched the struggle against the vulgar materialist tendency within the party as early as 1937.
- In stark contrast to the Europeanist tendency within the party and the Suez Group, this group had a short history.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。