decline
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
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).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
decline (plural declines)
- Downward movement, fall.
- A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
- A weakening.
- 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
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Translations
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.
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[edit] Verb
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.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
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
[edit] Related terms
[edit] External links
- 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
[edit] Romanian
[edit] Verb
decline
- third-person singular subjunctive form of declina.
- third-person plural subjunctive form of declina.
[edit] Spanish
[edit] Verb
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
- Latin 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
