, the slope or steepness of a line or plane inclined to the horizon, taken upwards; in contradistinction to declivity, which is taken downwards. So the ascent of a hill, is an acclivity: the descent of the same, a declivity.
Some writers on fortification use acclivity for talus: though more commonly the word talus is used to denote the slope, whether in ascending or descending.
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Entry taken from A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary, by Charles Hutton, 1796.
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