Dĕc/linā'tion, n.
n. [Fr. déclination, Lat. declinatio. See DECLENSION.]
Sense 1. The act or state of bending downward; inclination; as a declination of the head.
Sense 2. The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline. “The declination of a monarchy.” Bacon.
*Summer . . . is not looked on as a time Of declination and decay. Waller.*
Sense 3. The act of deviating or turning aside; obliquity; withdrawal. “The declination of atoms in their descent.” Bentley. “Every declination and violation of the rules.” South.
Sense 4. The act of putting away or refusing; refusal; withdrawal. “The queen’s declination from marriage.” Stow.
Sense 5. (Astron.) The angular distance of any object from the celestial equator, either northward or southward.
Sense 6. (Dialing.) The arc of the horizon, contained between the vertical plane and the prime vertical circle, if reckoned from the east or west, or between the meridian and the plane, reckoned from the north or south. Barlow.
Sense 7. (Gram.) The act of inflecting or rehearsing the grammatical forms of a word, through its various terminations.
Declination of the compass, or needle, the variation of the needle from the true meridian of a place.