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{{trans-top|of an anther: lying on the inner side of the filament; of a cotyledon: having its back lying against the radicle}}
{{trans-top|of an anther: lying on the inner side of the filament; of a cotyledon: having its back lying against the radicle}}
* Finnish: {{t-needed|fi}}
* Finnish: {{t-check|fi|poikkitelainen}}
* Macedonian: {{t-needed|mk}}
* Macedonian: {{t-needed|mk}}
{{trans-bottom}}
{{trans-bottom}}

Revision as of 16:43, 30 September 2023

English

WOTD – 6 January 2025

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ɪnˈkʌmb(ə)nt/, /ɪŋ-/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ɪnˈkʌmbənt/, /ɪŋ-/
  • Audio (GA):(file)
  • Hyphenation: in‧cumb‧ent

Etymology 1

From Latin incumbentem, the accusative singular of incumbēns (“reclining”), the present active participle of incumbō (“to lay upon, to lean or recline on; to fall upon, to press down on”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘against; into; on, upon’) + *cumbō (“to lie down, recline”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-).[1]

Adjective

incumbent (comparative more incumbent, superlative most incumbent)

  1. Followed by on or upon: leaning, or lying, reclining, or resting, on something else.
    Synonym: recumbent
    1. (botany) Of an anther: lying on the inner side of the filament; also, of a cotyledon: having its back lying against the radicle.
    2. (zoology) Of a body part such as a hair, spine, or wing: bent downwards so that it, or a part of it, rests on or touches something else; specifically (ornithology), of the hind toe of a bird: fully resting on a support.
      the incumbent toe of a bird
  2. (figurative)
    1. Being the current holder of an office or a title; (specifically, obsolete) of an ecclesiastical benefice.
      If the incumbent senator dies, he is replaced by a person appointed by the governor.
    2. Oppressive, pressuring.
    3. Followed by on or upon: imposed on one as an obligation, especially due to one's office or position.
      Proper behaviour is incumbent on all holders of positions of trust.
      • December 22 1678, Thomas Sprat, A Sermon Preached before the King at White-Hall
        all men truly Zelous, will […] endeavor to perform the first kind of good Works alwaies; those, I mean, that are incumbent on all Christians
    4. (poetic) Hanging or leaning over.
    5. (obsolete) Putting much effort into an activity or some work.
    6. (obsolete) Weighing on one's mind.
Derived terms
Translations
of a body part: bent downwards so that it, or a part of it, rests on or touches something else; of the hind toe of a bird: fully resting on a support
oppressive, pressuring — see oppressive

Etymology 2

From Middle English incumbent, encumbent (“holder of an ecclesiastical benefice, dean, parson, etc.; cleric (?)”),[2] from Medieval Latin incumbēns (“holder of a church position”), from incumbō (“to obtain; to possess”),[3][4] from Latin incumbō (“to lay upon, to lean or recline on; to fall upon, to press down on”): see etymology 1.

Noun

incumbent (plural incumbents)

  1. The current holder of an office or title; (specifically, Christianity) the holder of an ecclesiastical benefice.
    Coordinate term: (dated, rare) incumbentess
    • 1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XXIV, in Daniel Deronda, volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book III (Maidens Choosing), page 123:
      He has always remained friendly to me, though before his promotion, when he was an incumbent of this diocese, we had a little controversy about the Bible Society.
    • 1940, William Faulkner, chapter 3, in The Hamlet […], London: Chatto & Windus, published 1979, →ISBN, book 1 (Flem), section 1, page 61:
      But if they had waited about the store to see what would happen when he arrived who until last night anyway must have still believed himself the incumbent, they were disappointed. […] A few days later they learned that the new smith was living in the house […]
    • 2012 October 6, “The first presidential debate: Back in the centre, back in the game”, in The Economist‎[1], London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-10-06:
      Mr [Barack] Obama's problems were partly structural. An incumbent must defend the realities and compromises of government, while a challenger is freer to promise the earth, details to follow. Mr Obama's odd solution was to play both incumbent and challenger, jumping from a defence of his record to indignation at such ills as over-crowded classrooms and tax breaks for big oil companies.
    • 2022 November 16, Philip Haigh, “Trans-Pennine … transformative”, in Rail, number 970, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43:
      Just as interest grew under previous incumbent-but-one Grant Shapps, so interest could wane under new Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
  2. (business) A holder of a position as supplier to a market or market segment that allows the holder to earn above-normal profits.
    • 2012 September 29, “Schumpeter: Fixing the capitalist machine”, in The Economist‎[2], London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-09-29:
      American capitalism is becoming like its European cousin: established firms with the scale and scope to deal with a growing thicket of regulations are doing well, but new companies are withering on the vine or selling themselves to incumbents.
Derived terms
Translations

References

  1. ^ Compare “incumbent, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “incumbent, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “incumbent, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ incumbens in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  4. ^ Compare “incumbent, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “incumbent, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Latin

Verb

incumbent

  1. third-person plural future active indicative of incumbō
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