incumbent

Meanings

1. Chiefly followed by on or upon: leaning, or lying, reclining, or resting, on something else.
2. Of an anther: lying on the inner side of the filament; also, of a cotyledon: having its back lying against the radicle.
3. Of a body part such as a hair, spine, or wing: bent downwards or otherwise positioned so that it, or part of it, rests on or touches something else; specifically (ornithology), of the hind toe of a bird: fully resting on a support.
4. Being the current holder of an office or a title; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), of an ecclesiastical benefice.
5. Oppressive, pressuring.
6. Followed by on or upon: imposed on one as an obligation, especially due to one's office or position.
7. Hanging or leaning over.
8. Putting much effort into an activity or some work.
9. Weighing on one's mind.

1. The current holder of an office or title; (specifically, Christianity) the holder of an ecclesiastical benefice.
2. A holder of a position as supplier to a market or market segment that allows the holder to earn above-normal profits.

Etymology

From Latin incumbentem + English -ent (suffix denoting the causing, doing, or promoting of an action). Incumbentem is 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-).

Translations