Webster
✕

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Incumbent

In·cum′bent (·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. (Zoöl.) Bent downwards so that the ends touch, or rest on, something else; as, the incumbent toe of a bird.

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.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.