decline

Etymology
From, and ultimately , from (English ). The senses arrived from two separate pathways in Middle English:
 * The grammatical sense came from, which was borrowed directly from the Latin etymon.
 * All senses except the grammatical sense were derived from those of . Old French itself borrowed the verb from Latin.

Noun

 * 1) Downward movement, fall.
 * 2) A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.
 * 3) A deterioration of condition; a weakening or worsening.
 * 4) A reduction or diminution of activity, prevalence or quantity.
 * 5) The act of declining or refusing something.
 * 1) A reduction or diminution of activity, prevalence or quantity.
 * 2) The act of declining or refusing something.
 * 1) A reduction or diminution of activity, prevalence or quantity.
 * 2) The act of declining or refusing something.
 * 1) The act of declining or refusing something.
 * 1) The act of declining or refusing something.
 * 1) The act of declining or refusing something.
 * 1) The act of declining or refusing something.

Derived terms

 * acute oak decline
 * oak decline

Translations

 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Catalan: ,
 * Czech:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:, , ,
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * Galician: devalo
 * German: Sinken,
 * Hebrew:
 * Indonesian: ,
 * Irish: meath, meathlú
 * Maori: paheketanga
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:


 * Bulgarian:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Finnish: ,
 * German:
 * Hebrew:
 * Maori: paheketanga
 * Old English: æfdȳne
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian: ,
 * Swedish:, utförsbacke, medlut


 * Azerbaijani: tənəzzül, geriləmə, enmə
 * Bulgarian:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Dutch:, , ,
 * Finnish:, heikentyminen,
 * French:
 * Galician: devalo
 * German:, ,
 * Hebrew: היחלשות
 * Hungarian:
 * Indonesian:
 * Italian:
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: svekkelse,
 * Ottoman Turkish: خراب
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:, ,
 * Ukrainian: зане́пад


 * Finnish:, , ;
 * German: ,
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål:
 * Russian: ,
 * Swedish: ,
 * Ukrainian: спад, зни́ження


 * Finnish: ,


 * Catalan:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:
 * French:
 * Interlingua:
 * Irish: ,
 * Norwegian:
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:
 * Italian:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Volapük:

Verb

 * 1)  To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
 * 2)  To become weaker or worse.
 * 3)  To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
 * 4)  To cause to decrease or diminish.
 * 5) To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
 * a line that declines from straightness
 * conduct that declines from sound morals
 * 1)  To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
 * 2)  To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.
 * 3)  To recite all the different declined forms of (a word).
 * 4)  To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
 * 5)  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.
 * 1)  To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
 * 2)  To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.
 * 3)  To recite all the different declined forms of (a word).
 * 4)  To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
 * 5)  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.
 * 1)  To recite all the different declined forms of (a word).
 * 2)  To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
 * 3)  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.
 * 1)  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.

Usage notes

 * Decline, refuse, forbear, refrain: Decline is gentler than refuse and carries a connotation that the non-acceptance is an acceptable or anticipated option (decline an invitation) or the result of a considered decision (the judge declined to grant the motion). Refuse has a stronger connotation of rejection, firmness, resistance, or non-compliance. For example, if someone declines to give their name, that suggests they were given a choice and elected not to give their name. If someone refuses to give their name, the connotation is more toward a suggestion that they normally should have given their name and are being intransigent. Forbear or refrain, conversely, suggest choosing not to do something that one might indulge in or be tempted to do (refrain from smoking), with forbear having an added connotation of showing some fortitude in withstanding the temptation (forbear to show anger). Refrain can also be used to refer to a general policy or preference rather than a choice on a single occasion.
 * The noun form of most meanings of decline is decline: the decline of the empire. The noun for decline in the grammatical senses is declension. The noun declination has to do with astronomical coordinates, and is rare or archaic as the noun form of the verb decline.

Translations

 * Bulgarian:, наклонявам се надолу
 * Catalan: declinar-se
 * Czech:
 * Dutch:, , ,
 * Finnish: ,
 * German: ,
 * Gothic: 𐌷𐌽𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽
 * Hebrew:
 * Indonesian:
 * Italian:
 * Maori: tauheke, tāharahara
 * Old English: drēosan
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian:
 * Russian:
 * Swedish:


 * Azerbaijani:, tənəzzül etmək,
 * Bulgarian:, влошавам се
 * Catalan: debilitar-se
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech:
 * Dutch:, , ,
 * Finnish: ,
 * French: ,
 * German: ,
 * Hebrew: נחלש
 * Hungarian: ,
 * Indonesian:
 * Irish: meath, meathlaigh
 * Maori: roroku, paheke, tupuheke, māwhe , tāmatemate
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Sanskrit: भ्रंशते
 * Scottish Gaelic: rach bhuaithe
 * Swedish:


 * Swedish:


 * Arabic: رَفَضَ
 * Bulgarian:
 * Catalan: ,
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech:
 * Danish: afvise
 * Dutch: ,
 * Finnish:
 * French: ,
 * German:
 * Haitian Creole: refize
 * Hebrew:, סירב
 * Hungarian:
 * Ido:
 * Indonesian:
 * Italian: ,
 * Latin: abnegō
 * Maori: whakanau, whakahoe, whakapeka
 * Norwegian:, avvise
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Russian:
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: о̀дбити
 * Roman:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish: ,


 * Azerbaijani: hallandırmaq
 * Belarusian: скланя́ць, праскланя́ць
 * Bulgarian:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech:
 * Dutch:
 * Faroese: benda
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Georgian: ბრუნება
 * German:
 * Hebrew: היטה
 * Hungarian:
 * Italian:
 * Lithuanian: linksniuoti
 * Norman: dêclyinner
 * Polish: odmieniać (przez przypadki),
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian:
 * Russian:
 * Scottish Gaelic: claon
 * Slovak: skloňovať
 * Slovene:, deklinirati
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Ukrainian:


 * French:


 * French:


 * Catalan:
 * Interlingua:
 * Volapük: