INCUMBENT • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Incumbent

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/ɪnkˈəmbənt/ Listen

noun

Incumbent n. A person who is in present possession of a benefice or of any office. "The incumbent lieth at the mercy of his patron."

adjective

Incumbent adj.

Lying; resting; reclining; recumbent; superimposed; superincumbent. "Two incumbent figures, gracefully leaning upon it." "To move the incumbent load they try."

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."

(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.

(Zool.) Bent downwards so that the ends touch, or rest on, something else; as, the incumbent toe of a bird.

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Etymology of 'Incumbent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Incumbent" Quotes from Famous Books

... after the governorship of the individual States, and yet the incumbent was to be at the head of the Thirteen States. Rufus King is frequently quoted to the effect that the men of that time had been accustomed to considering themselves subjects of the British king. Even at the ...

— The Fathers of the Constitution - Volume 13 in The Chronicles Of America Series • Max Farrand

... the duties which of right fell to the incumbent, and intrusted with the spiritual guardianship of the dependants of the castle, our young clergyman had ample occupation for all his time, if not a sufficient theatre for his usefulness. Isabel and himself remained the year ...

— Precaution • James Fenimore Cooper

... deities of almost every nation we have subdued, and have suffered without objection the preachers of this new doctrine to make converts. The persecutions that have already begun against the sect are not because they believe in this Christus, but because they refuse to perform the duties incumbent upon all Roman citizens. Two of my slaves belong to the sect. They know well that I care not to what religion they belong, and indeed, for my part, I should be glad to see all my slaves join them, for the moral ...

— Beric the Briton - A Story of the Roman Invasion • G. A. Henty

... no small part in these attempts and led to a good deal of misunderstanding, for he felt it incumbent on him to try his codes in every possible dialect. Instead of the usual cheery "Good morning," a major of a famous Highland regiment was scandalised by an elderly subaltern blethering out, "Cannibal—Custard—Claymore—Caramel," in an abominable Scotch ...

— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 153, Nov. 28, 1917 • Various

... this tampering with an election is for the last time. What will succeed the Empire, I know not. God grant it may not be our country's ruin! But the state of things under which we live cannot last long. It is incumbent on honest men to lay before the emperor the state of the country, which his ministers do their best to keep from him. For a long time I kept silent,—it was no use to knock one's head against a wall; but now we have ...

— France in the Nineteenth Century • Elizabeth Latimer

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