[dek-luh-mey-shuh
n] 
| 1. | the act or art of declaiming. |
| 2. | exercise in oratory or elocution, as in the recitation of a classic speech. |
| 3. | speech or writing for oratorical effect. |
| 4. | Music. the proper enunciation of the words, as in recitative. |
| dec·la·ma·tion (děk'lə-mā'shən) n.
[Middle English declamacioun, from Latin dēclāmātiō, dēclāmātiōn-, from dēclāmātus, past participle of dēclāmāre, to declaim; see declaim.] |