decline

I. verb (declined; declining) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French decliner, from Latin declinare to turn aside, inflect, from de- + clinare to incline — more at lean Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. archaic to turn from a straight course ; stray 2. a. to slope downward ; descend b. to bend down ; droop c. to stoop to what is unworthy 3. a. of a celestial body to sink toward setting b. to draw toward a close ; wane <

the day declined

> 4. to tend toward an inferior state or weaker condition <

his health declined

> <

morale declined

> 5. to withhold consent 6. to become less in amount <

prices declined

> transitive verb 1. to give in prescribed order the grammatical forms of (a noun, pronoun, or adjective) 2. obsolete a. avert b. avoid 3. to cause to bend or bow downward 4. a. to refuse to undertake, undergo, engage in, or comply with <

decline battle

> b. to refuse especially courteously <

decline an invitation

> • declinable adjective • decliner noun Synonyms: decline, refuse, reject, repudiate, spurn mean to turn away by not accepting, receiving, or considering. decline often implies courteous refusal especially of offers or invitations <

declined his party's nomination

>. refuse suggests more positiveness or ungraciousness and often implies the denial of something asked for <

refused to lend them the money

>. reject implies a peremptory refusal by sending away or discarding <

rejected the manuscript as unpublishable

>. repudiate implies a casting off or disowning as untrue, unauthorized, or unworthy of acceptance <

teenagers who repudiate the values of their parents

>. spurn stresses contempt or disdain in rejection or repudiation <

spurned his overtures of friendship

>. II. noun Date: 14th century 1. the process of declining: a. a gradual physical or mental sinking and wasting away b. a change to a lower state or level <

the decline of the aristocracy

> 2. the period during which something is deteriorating or approaching its end <

an empire in decline

> 3. a downward slope 4. a wasting disease; especially pulmonary tuberculosis Synonyms: see deterioration