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Webster 1913 Edition

Decline

De-cline′

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Declined
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Declining
.]
[OE.
declinen
to bend down, lower, sink, decline (a noun), F.
décliner
to decline, refuse, fr. L.
declinare
to turn aside, inflect (a part of speech), avoid;
de-
+
clinare
to incline; akin to E.
lean
. See
Lean
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend.
“With declining head.”
Shak.
He . . . would
decline
even to the lowest of his family.
Lady Hutchinson.
Disdaining to
decline
,
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries.
Byron.
The ground at length became broken and
declined
rapidly.
Sir W. Scott.
2.
To tend or draw towards a close, decay, or extinction; to tend to a less perfect state; to become diminished or impaired; to fail; to sink; to diminish; to lessen;
as, the day
declines
; virtue
declines
; religion
declines
; business
declines
.
That empire must
decline

Whose chief support and sinews are of coin.
Waller.
And presume to know . . .
Who thrives, and who
declines
.
Shakespeare
3.
To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw;
as, a line that
declines
from straightness; conduct that
declines
from sound morals.
Yet do I not
decline
from thy testimonies.
Ps. cxix. 157.
4.
To turn away; to shun; to refuse; – the opposite of accept or consent;
as, he
declined
, upon principle
.

De-cline′

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
In melancholy deep, with head
declined
.
Thomson.
And now fair Phoebus gan
decline
in haste
His weary wagon to the western vale.
Spenser.
2.
To cause to decrease or diminish.
[Obs.]
“You have declined his means.”
Beau. & Fl.
He knoweth his error, but will not seek to
decline
it.
Burton.
3.
To put or turn aside; to turn off or away from; to refuse to undertake or comply with; reject; to shun; to avoid;
as, to
decline
an offer; to
decline
a contest; he
declined
any participation with them.
Could I
Decline
this dreadful hour?
Massinger.
4.
(Gram.)
To inflect, or rehearse in order the changes of grammatical form of;
as, to
decline
a noun or an adjective
.
☞ Now restricted to such words as have case inflections; but formerly it was applied both to declension and conjugation.
After the first
declining
of a noun and a verb.
Ascham.
5.
To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun.
[R.]
Shak.

De-cline′

,
Noun.
[F.
déclin
. See
Decline
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
A falling off; a tendency to a worse state; diminution or decay; deterioration; also, the period when a thing is tending toward extinction or a less perfect state;
as, the
decline
of life; the
decline
of strength; the
decline
of virtue and religion.
Their fathers lived in the
decline
of literature.
Swift.
2.
(Med.)
That period of a disorder or paroxysm when the symptoms begin to abate in violence;
as, the
decline
of a fever
.
Syn. –
Decline
,
Decay
,
Consumption
.
Decline marks the first stage in a downward progress; decay indicates the second stage, and denotes a tendency to ultimate destruction; consumption marks a steady decay from an internal exhaustion of strength. The health may experience a decline from various causes at any period of life; it is naturally subject to decay with the advance of old age; consumption may take place at almost any period of life, from disease which wears out the constitution. In popular language decline is often used as synonymous with consumption. By a gradual decline, states and communities lose their strength and vigor; by progressive decay, they are stripped of their honor, stability, and greatness; by a consumption of their resources and vital energy, they are led rapidly on to a completion of their existence.

Webster 1828 Edition

Decline

DECLI'NE

,
Verb.
I.
[L. to lean.]

Definition 2024

decline

decline

See also: decliné, décline, and décliné

English

Noun

decline ‎(countable and uncountable, plural declines)

  1. Downward movement, fall.(Can we add an example for this sense?)
  2. A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.(Can we add an example for this sense?)
  3. A weakening.(Can we add an example for this sense?)
    • 2012 January 1, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, in 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.
  4. 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.

Antonyms

Translations

Verb

decline ‎(third-person singular simple present declines, present participle declining, simple past and past participle declined)

  1. (intransitive) To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
    The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.‎
  2. (intransitive) To become weaker or worse.
    My health declined in winter.‎
  3. (transitive) To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
    • Thomson
      in melancholy deep, with head declined
    • Spenser
      And now fair Phoebus gan decline in haste / His weary wagon to the western vale.
  4. (transitive) To cause to decrease or diminish.
    • Beaumont and Fletcher
      You have declined his means.
    • Burton
      He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it.
  5. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
    a line that declines from straightness
    conduct that declines from sound morals
    • Bible, Psalms cxix. 157
      Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
  6. (transitive) To refuse, forbear.
    • Massinger
      Could I decline this dreadful hour?
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      “[…] 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.
    On reflection I think I will decline your generous offer.‎
  7. (transitive, grammar, usually of substantives, adjectives and pronouns) To inflect for case, number and sometimes gender.
    • Ascham
      after the first declining of a noun and a verb
  8. (by extension) To run through from first to last; to repeat like a schoolboy declining a noun.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  9. (American football, Canadian football) 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.

Derived terms

Translations

Related terms

Portuguese

Verb

decline

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of declinar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of declinar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of declinar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of declinar

Romanian

Verb

decline

  1. third-person singular subjunctive form of declina.
  2. third-person plural subjunctive form of declina.

Spanish

Verb

decline

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of declinar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of declinar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of declinar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of declinar.

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).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /dɪˈklaɪn/
  • (US) IPA(key): /dəˈklɑɪn/, /diˈklɑɪn/
  • Rhymes: -aɪn

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