decline
noun
- fall,
verb
- to reject something or action
- reduce in size
- fall
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dɪˈklaɪn/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English declinen, and ultimately Latin declīnō (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”, from dē- (“down”) + clīnō (“to bend, to incline”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean). The senses arrived from two separate pathways in Middle English: * The grammatical sense came from Old English declīnian, which was borrowed directly from the Latin etymon. * All senses except the grammatical sense were derived from those of Old French decliner. Old French itself borrowed the verb from Latin.
- Downward movement, fall.
“The aircraft went into a sudden decline before the pilot regained control.”
- A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
“After taking a right from that turn a decline will come into view.”
- A deterioration of condition; a weakening or worsening.
“He has experienced a sudden decline in his health.”
“Educational standards are on the decline.”
- A reduction or diminution of activity, prevalence or quantity.
“Population decline is a major concern.”
“Town-centre retailers have seen a decline in footfall.”
- The act of declining or refusing something.
“The issuing bank only checks the consumer's credit card number for authorization. […] Soft declines are those declines in which the bank requires further verification.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English declinen, and ultimately Latin declīnō (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”, from dē- (“down”) + clīnō (“to bend, to incline”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean). The senses arrived from two separate pathways in Middle English: * The grammatical sense came from Old English declīnian, which was borrowed directly from the Latin etymon. * All senses except the grammatical sense were derived from those of Old French decliner. Old French itself borrowed the verb from Latin.
- To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
“The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.”
- To become weaker or worse.
“My health declined in winter.”
“After her sother died, Connie began to decline noticeably.”
- To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
“in melancholy site, with head declined”
“And now faire Phoebus gan decline in hast / His weary wagon to the Westerne vale.”
- To cause to decrease or diminish.
“You have declin'd his means.”
“He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it.”
- To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
“a line that declines from straightness”
“conduct that declines from sound morals”
- To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
“Could I decline this dreadful hour?”
““[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.”
- To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.
- To recite all the different declined forms of (a word): to recite its declension.
“after the first declining of a noun and a verb”
- To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
“Decline all this, and see what now thou art. For happy wife, a most distressed widow; For joyful mother, one that wails the name; For one being sued to, one that humbly sues; For queen , a very caitiff crown'd with care[…]”
- To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play.
“The team chose to decline the fifteen-yard penalty because their receiver had caught the ball for a thirty-yard gain.”