decline
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English declinen, from Old French decliner, from Latin declinare (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”), from de (“down”) + clīnō (“I bend, I incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
decline (plural declines)
- Downward movement, fall.
- A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
- A weakening.
- 2012 January 1, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 87:
- In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance.
- 2012 January 1, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 87:
- A reduction or diminution of activity.
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page ix
- It is also pertinent to note that the current obvious decline in work on holarctic hepatics most surely reflects a current obsession with cataloging and with nomenclature of the organisms—as divorced from their study as living entities.
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page ix
Antonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
downward movement, fall
sloping downward
weakening
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb [edit]
decline (third-person singular simple present declines, present participle declining, simple past and past participle declined)
- (intransitive) To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
- The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.
- (intransitive) To become weaker or worse.
- My health declined in winter.
- (transitive) To refuse, forbear.
- On reflection I think I will decline your generous offer.
- (transitive, grammar) To list the inflected forms of a noun, pronoun (and in some languages adjective) for case and number.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
move downwards
weaken
refuse
inflect
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
Related terms [edit]
External links [edit]
- decline in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- decline in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- decline at OneLook Dictionary Search
Romanian [edit]
Verb [edit]
decline
- third-person singular subjunctive form of declina.
- third-person plural subjunctive form of declina.
Spanish [edit]
Verb [edit]
decline (infinitive declinar)
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of declinar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of declinar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of declinar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of declinar.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English verbs
- en:Grammar
- Romanian verb forms
- Spanish verb forms
- Spanish verb imperative forms
- Spanish verb singular forms
- Spanish verb second-person forms
- Spanish verb formal forms
- Spanish forms of verbs ending in -ar
- Spanish verb subjunctive forms
- Spanish verb first-person forms
- Spanish verb present forms
- Spanish verb third-person forms
