Adjacent Words

Incumbent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INCUM'BENT, a. [L. incumbens, incumbo; in and cumbo, to lie down.]
1. Lying or resting on.
And when to move th'incumbent load they try.
2. Supported; buoyed up.
And fly incumbent on the dusky air.
3. Leaning on, or resting against; as incumbent stamens or anthers, in botany.
4. Lying on, as duty or obligation; imposed and emphatically urging or pressing to performance; indispensable.
All men, truly zealous, will perform those good works which are incumbent on all christians.
INCUM'BENT, n. The person who is in present possession of a benefice,or of any office. [It is applied to civil officers as well as to ecclesiastical.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lying or leaning on something else; "an incumbent geological formation"
2: necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility; morally binding; "it is incumbent on them to pay their own debts"
3: currently holding an office; "the incumbent governor" n
1: the official who holds an office [syn: incumbent, officeholder]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin incumbent-, incumbens, present participle of incumbere to lie down on, from in- + -cumbere to lie down; akin to cubare to lie Date: 15th century 1. the holder of an office or ecclesiastical benefice 2. one that occupies a particular position or place II. adjective Date: 1567 1. imposed as a duty ; obligatory <incumbent on us to take action> 2. having the status of an incumbent <the team's incumbent third baseman>; especially occupying a specified office 3. lying or resting on something else 4. bent over so as to rest on or touch an underlying surface

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 (foll. by on, upon) resting as a duty (it is incumbent on you to warn them). 2 (often foll. by on) lying, pressing. --n. the holder of an office or post, esp. an ecclesiastical benefice. Etymology: ME f. AL incumbens pres. part. of L incumbere lie upon (as IN-(2), cubare lie)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Incumbent In*cum"bent, a. [L. incumbens, -entis, p. pr. of incumbere to lie down upon, press upon; pref. in- in, on + cumbere (in comp.); akin to cubare to lie down. See Incubate.] 1. Lying; resting; reclining; recumbent; superimposed; superincumbent. Two incumbent figures, gracefully leaning upon it. --Sir H. Wotton. To move the incumbent load they try. --Addison. 2. Lying, resting, or imposed, as a duty or obligation; obligatory; always with on or upon. All men, truly zealous, will perform those good works that are incumbent on all Christians. --Sprat. 3. (Bot.) Leaning or resting; -- said of anthers when lying on the inner side of the filament, or of cotyledons when the radicle lies against the back of one of them. --Gray. 4. (Zo["o]l.) Bent downwards so that the ends touch, or rest on, something else; as, the incumbent toe of a bird.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Incumbent In*cum"bent, n. A person who is in present possession of a benefice or of any office. The incumbent lieth at the mercy of his patron. --Swift.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(incumbents) 1. An incumbent is someone who holds an official post at a particular time. (FORMAL) In general, incumbents have a 94 per cent chance of being re-elected. N-COUNT • Incumbent is also an adjective. ...the only candidate who defeated an incumbent senator. ADJ: ADJ n 2. If it is incumbent upon you to do something, it is your duty or responsibility to do it. (FORMAL) It is incumbent upon all of us to make an extra effort. ADJ: it v-link ADJ upon/on n to-inf

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Obligatory, binding, devolving, devolved, laid. 2. Leaning, reclining, bearing down, pressing down, resting, weighing down, prone. II. n. Holder, occupant (of a benefice or office).

Moby Thesaurus

addressee, artist-in-residence, beetle, beetle-browed, beetling, behooving, benefice-holder, beneficiary, binding, bridging, burdensome, chargeable to, commanding, compulsory, cumbersome, cumbrous, demanding, denizen, dweller, habitant, hirer, holdover, homesteader, house detective, imbricate, impendent, impending, incumbent on, inhabitant, inhabiter, inmate, inpatient, ins, intern, jack-in-office, jutting, lame duck, lapping, leaseholder, lessee, live-in maid, locum tenens, lodger, lowering, lumpish, mandatory, massive, necessary, new broom, obligatory, occupant, occupier, office-bearer, officeholder, official, onerous, oppressive, overarched, overhanging, overhung, overlapping, overlying, paying guest, pending, prescribed, president-elect, projecting, public official, public servant, renter, required, residencer, resident, resident physician, residentiary, resider, roomer, shingled, sojourner, spanning, squatter, sublessee, subtenant, superincumbent, tenant, tenant at sufferance, tenant for life, underlessee, unwieldy