proclivity

PROCLIV'ITY, n. [L. proclivitas, proclivis; pro and clivus, a cliff.]

1. Inclination; propensity; proneness; tendency.

The sensitive appetite may engender a proclivity to steal, but not a necessity to steal.

2. Readiness; facility of learning.

He had such a dexterous proclivity, that his teachers were fain to restrain his forwardness.