Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TEND'EN-CY, n. [from tend; L. tendens, tending.]

Drift; direction or course toward any place, object, effect, or result. Read such books only as have a good moral tendency. Mild language has a tendency to allay irritation. Writings of this kind, if conducted with candor, have a more particular tendency to the good of their country. Addison.