the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives for categories such as case and number.
b.
the whole set of inflected forms of such a word, or the recital thereof in a fixed order.
c.
a class of such words having similar sets of inflected forms: the Latin second declension.
2.
an act or instance of declining.
3.
a bending, sloping, or moving downward: land with a gentle declension toward the sea.
4.
deterioration; decline.
5.
deviation, as from a standard.
Origin: 1400–50; late ME declenson, declynson (with suffix later assimilated to -sion), by stress retraction and syncope < OF declinaison < L dēclīnātiōdeclination
In certain languages, the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in categories such as case, number, and gender.
A class of words of one language with the same or a similar system of inflections, such as the first declension in Latin.
A descending slope; a descent.
A decline or decrease; deterioration: "States and empires have their periods of declension"(Laurence Sterne).
A deviation, as from a standard or practice.
[Middle English declenson, from Old French declinaison, from Latin dēclīnātiō, dēclīnātiōn-, grammatical declension, declination; see declination.] de·clen'sion·al adj.
[di-klen-shuh
n] 