| 释义 |
▪ I. decline, n.|dɪˈklaɪn|
Also 4 declyn, 5 declyne.
[a. F. déclin, f. décliner to decline.]
1. The process of declining or sinking to a weaker or inferior condition; gradual loss of force, vigour, vitality, or excellence of quality; falling off, decay, diminution, deterioration. on the decline: in a declining state; declining, falling off.
a1327in Pol. Songs (Camden) 154 Al hit cometh in declyn this gigelotes geren. c1430Lydg. Thebes iii. (R.), The high noblesse shall draw to decline Of Greekes blood. 1638C. Aleyn Hist. Hen. VII, 138 When Bodies cease to grow, 'tis the presage Of a decline to their decrepit Age. 1711Steele Spect. No. 78 ⁋4 The Lady had actually lost one Eye, and the other was very much upon the Decline. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxviii, The decline of my daughter's health. 1776Gibbon (title), History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 436 The ascendancy, decline, and final overthrow of the Mahrattas. 1892Law Times XCII. 138/1 It is said that reading in barristers' chambers is on the decline.
b. Fallen or sunken condition. rare.
1705Stanhope Paraphr. I. 108 In the lowest Decline of Oppression and Disgrace, he was in no degree less worthy of Veneration than when in his highest Glory.
c. A gradual failure of the physical powers, as in the later years of life.
1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 85/1 Numa..wasted away insensibly with old age and a gentle decline. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 545 A gradual decline had apparently begun.
d. Any disease in which the bodily strength gradually fails; esp. tubercular phthisis, consumption.
1783Gentl. Mag. LIII. ii. 1066 [Died] at his brother's at Enfield, of a deep decline, by bursting a blood-vessel in coughing. 1790F. Burney Diary Dec., A general opinion that I was falling into a decline. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 285 He fell into a rapid decline, and died prematurely. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. i, She said one of his sisters was like to die of decline. 1882Syd. Soc. Lex., Decline..applied to the later stages of phthisis pulmonalis. Also, a term for the condition formerly called Tabes.
e. Comm. A downward movement or gradual fall in price or value.
1885Manch. Guardian 20 July 5/5 The decline in the value of labour has not hitherto kept pace with that of commodities and property. 1887Daily News 23 Feb. 2/6, 560 bags Demerara syrups at 6d decline. 1893Ibid. 25 Dec. 7/3 The market was weak, but declines were unimportant.
2. Of the sun or day: The action of sinking towards its setting or close.
14..Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. 103 Westryng or drawyng to declyne. 1590Greene Orl. Fur. (1861) 111 Where Phœbus..kisses Thetis in the days decline. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 792 This Evening from the Sun's decline arriv'd. 1827Pollok Course T. x, At dawn, at mid-day, and decline.
b. In the decline of life there is a mixture of senses 1 and 2.
1711Steele Spect. No. 2 ⁋5 A Gentleman who according to his Years should be in the Decline of his Life. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 269 The king and his heir were nearly of the same age. Both were approaching the decline of life.
3. A downward incline, a slope. rare.
1538Leland Itin. II. 46 Farington, standing in a stony Ground in the Decline of an Hille. 1844Mech. Mag. XL. 397 The frightful precipitation of a railway train down a decline. 1859R. F. Burton Centr. Afr. in Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXIX. 237 §1 On the declines, more precipitous than Swiss terraces, manioc and cereals grow luxuriantly.
▪ II. decline, v.|dɪˈklaɪn|
Also 4–6 declyne.
[a. F. décline-r (Chans. Roland 11th c.), ad. L. dēclīnāre to turn or bend away or aside from the straight course, etc., f. de- I. 2 + -clīnāre (in comb.) to bend, cognate with Gr. κλίν-ειν to bend, and Teut. *hlinôjan, OSax. hlinôn to lean. In the sense-development the prefix de- has also been taken in the sense ‘down’, of which there is little trace in L. dēclīnāre.]
I. Intransitive senses.
* To turn aside, deviate.
†1.
a. To turn or bend aside; to deviate (from the straight course); to turn away. Obs.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 333 Now rech I neuer for to declyne, Ne how fer of folde þat man me fleme. 14..Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. 122 No thyng may be hyd from thy presence Ne from thyne eye declyne ne astart. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 65/4 Dauid said what haue I doo..and declyned fro hys brother to other of the peple. 1555Eden Decades 1 Colonus directynge his visage towarde the weste..declining somwhat towarde the left hande, sayled on forwarde xxxiii. dayes. 1632Lithgow Trav. vi. 291 Againe night we declined towards Gaza. 1691Ray Creation i. (1704) 62 A line..much declining from the Object. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 57 Here we began to decline from the Sea-Coast. 1778R. Lowth Transl. Isaiah (ed. 12) 55 Turn aside from the way; decline from the straight path. 1839Lingard Hist. Eng. (ed. 4) XI. 286 The few individuals who ventured abroad..when they met, declined on opposite sides, to avoid the contact of each other.
†b. To turn aside from (anything) so as to avoid it: cf. the trans. sense in 12. Obs.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 93 b, We can not beare y⊇ presence of our neyghbour..but declyne from his company. 1563Foxe A. & M. 723 b, Naturally euery creature declineth gladly from that thyng which goth about to hurt it.
†2.
a. Astron. and Geog. To deviate, diverge, or fall away from the equator (formerly also, from the ecliptic); to have declination (sense 7). Obs.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §21 Þat on half [of the Zodiac] declinith sowthward, & þat other northward. Ibid. ii. §17 The Ecliptic lyne: fro which lyne alle Planetes som tyme declinen north or south. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 200 Java is an Ile..declining seven degrees from the æquator towards the Antarctique Pole. 1726tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 331 At London the least Twilight is when the Sun declines from the Equator towards the South 6d 7′.
†b. Dialling. Of a vertical plane: To have an aspect oblique to the prime vertical or to the meridian; to have declination (sense 9). Obs.
1593T. Fale Dialling 4 The East and West are not said to decline, because the declination is accounted from the south and North to the direct East and West points. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. x. 15 AB is a Wall or Plane declining East..so much as the Wall bendeth from the East Azimuth, so much doth his Pole at P decline or bend from the Meridian. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 311 The South Erect Plane, declining more or less towards the East or West.
†c. Of the magnetic needle: To deviate from the true north and south line; cf. declination 8.
1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 180 In that place the needle declin'd 22 degrees from the North, towards the West. 1674Boyle Excell. Theol. ii. v. 215 The magnetick needle not onely declining in many places from the true points of N. and S. but..varying in tract of time its declination in the self-same place.
†3. fig.
a. To turn aside in conduct; esp. to swerve or fall away (from rectitude, duty, allegiance, instructions, etc.). Obs.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. vii. 145 Of hem þat eschewen and declinen fro vices and taken þe weye of vertue. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. xx. 24 Ner lete hem not liȝtly decline to outwarde consolacions. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 1 §2 Persones..which shall hereafter declyne from..their seid alliegeaunce. 1507Communyc. B iij, Alas why..so unkyndly from hym declyne That is our god so gracyous. 1558Knox First Blast (Arb.) 31 Frome the highest to the lowest, all were declined frome the. a1580Farrant's Anthem, ‘Lord, for thy tender mercies' sake’, Give us grace to amend our sinful lives, to decline from sin and incline to virtue. 1611Bible Ps. cxix. 157 Yet doe I not decline from thy testimonies. 1728Newton Chronol. Amended vi. 352 They declined from the worship of this Eternal Invisible God. 1749F. Smith Voy. II. 201 He had formed a Design..of declining from his Instructions.
†b. To turn aside from the subject, in speaking or writing; to digress. Obs.
1544T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1560) N v b, Here I have declined by occasion, but now to our intent. 1600Holland Livy ix. xvii. 325 a, I have nothing lesse sought..than to digresse and decline [declinarem] more than was needfull, from the order and course of mine historie.
†c. Of things: To diverge, deviate (in character, excellence, etc.) from. Obs.
1615G. Sandys Trav. 12 There is a Bannia, which little declines from the state of a Temple. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 174 Nor doth thy last alleaged excuse..decline any whit from thy other reasons.
†4. fig. To incline or lean to. Obs.
1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., It is set in the myddes of the brest, nat declynynge to one parte more than to another. 1580Frampton Monardes' Med. agst. Venome 127 The Bezaar stone is..full of spottes, declining to the colour of a sad blewe. ― Dial. Yron 151 b, Yron..doth more decline to be hot than colde. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 44 Your weeping sister is no wife of mine..Farre more, farre more, to you doe I decline. a1636Holland (Webster), That purple luster..declineth in the end to the color of wine. 1671tr. Palafox's Conq. China xi. 230 It was quickly perceived to which side the victory declined.
¶ Not to consent or agree (to do something); to refuse. See sense 13.
** To slope, incline, or bend downward.
5. To deviate from the horizontal or vertical position; to have a downward inclination, to slant or slope downward.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 298 On south and este se that it [the land] faire enclyne..But from the colde Septemptrion declyne. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 159 Some plain place..declining by the space of some four or five furlongs. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 152 The ground on each side declining gently. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 258 The way..having first mounted gently a pleasant slope declined again. 1843Prescott Mexico (1850) I. 5 Table land which..gradually declines in the higher latitudes of the north.
6. To bend down, bow down, droop.
a1400–50Alexander 2289 (Dubl. MS.) ‘My louely Lord’, quod þe lede, and law he declynes. 1598Rowlands Betraying of Christ 4 As a fruitfull tree the more it is fruitladen, the more it declineth. a1612Donne Biathan. (1644) 190 Our heads decline after our death by the slackness of the sinews and muscles. 1632Lithgow Trav. ii. 49 The wearisome creatures of the world declining to their rest. 1749Fielding Tom Jones vi. viii, His eyes were eagerly fixed on Sophia, and hers declining towards the ground. 1891T. Hardy Tess I. 10 Declining from his sitting position..[he] stretched himself..among the daisies.
†7.
a. To come down, fall, descend, sink. Obs.
a1400–50Alexander 2714 (Ashm. MS.) He þat enhansis him to heȝe, þe heldire he declynes. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 500 His Sword Which was declining on the Milkie head Of Reuerend Priam, seem'd i' the air to stick.
†b. To descend in lineage. Obs. rare.
1598Yong Diana 98 On th' one side Dukes most excellent decline, And from the other scepter, throne, and crowne.
8. a. Of the sun or other heavenly body: To descend in the sky after culmination; to sink towards setting.
c1430Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. xcii, Er that thy bemes go up to declyne, And er that thou now go fro us adoune. 1513Douglas æneis x. xiv. 194 Be this the son declynyt was almost. 1607Rowlands Fam. Hist. 22 The Sun declines, day ancient grows. 1812Woodhouse Astron. xxx. 299 As the Moon, having passed the meridian, declines. 1837Disraeli Venetia i. ii, The sun was beginning to decline.
b. transf. Said of the day (evening, etc.), also fig. of one's life: To draw towards its close. (Often with mixture of sense 10.)
1697[see declining ppl. a. 3]. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 108 When People decline in Years, there are some extraordinary Means requisite. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 146 The day declined. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 152/1 The summer was now declining. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxi. 94 The day declines. Forth, fair bride.
9. fig. To fall morally or in dignity, to sink (to evil courses, etc., or to an unworthy object). (Now only literary, and after Shakes.)
[c1440Gesta Rom. lxiv. 279 (Add. MS.) But that in no wise from hens forward he declyn to synne agayn. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 485 Many of the elect do decline to vices.] 1602Shakes. Ham. i. v. 50 Oh Hamlet, what a falling off was there, From me, whose loue was of that dignity..and to decline Vpon a wretch, whose Naturall gifts were poore To those of mine. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 97 Yet somtimes Nations will decline so low From vertue. 1691E. Taylor Behmen's Theos. Philos. xx. 30 The direful shameful state Adam declined into. 1708Swift Sent. Church of Eng. Man, He declines..from his office of presiding over the whole, to be the head of a party. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 43 Having known me—to decline On a range of lower feelings and a narrower heart than mine!
10. fig. To fall off or fail in force, vigour, or vitality; to decay, wane, diminish, decrease; to fall from prosperity or excellence, to deteriorate.
1530Palsgr. 508/2 Whan thynges be at the hyghest, than they begyn to declyne. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 515 After the subuersion of Hierusalem the Romane Empire began to decline. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 182 Your health, which I feare is already declining. 1607Shakes. Cor. i. i. 197 Who's like to rise, Who thriues, and who declines. 1687Waller (J.), That empire must decline, Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 435 When Autumnal Warmth declines. 1728Young Love Fame v. 517 She grants, indeed, a lady may decline (All ladies but herself) at ninety-nine. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 675 The net territorial revenues..instead of increasing, had actually declined. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxvi, Eva after this declined rapidly: there was no more any doubt of the event. 1888M. Robertson Lombard St. Myst. iv, Mr. Alldis had declined considerably in his estimation.
II. Transitive senses.
* To cause to turn aside, to avert; to turn aside from, avoid, refuse.
†11. To turn aside (lit. and fig.):
a. To avert.
c1430Lydg. Bochas vi. iv. (1554) 151 a, For remedies..Was prouided theyr malice to declyne. 1606Holland Sueton. Annot. 25 Counterfeiting a woman, thereby to decline suspicion. 1638Cowley Love's Riddle v, Thanks to the juster Deities for declining From both the Danger, and from me the Sin. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 422 Here Johnson lies: could physic fence Death's dart, Sure death had been declined by his art. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 31 ⁋5 Subterfuges and evasions are sought to decline the pressure of resistless arguments.
†b. To turn (a person) aside from or to a course of conduct, from duty, etc.; to divert. Obs.
a1555Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 230 Of them which decline their ear from hearing the law of God. 1610Donne Pseudo Martyr 185 The immensnesse..auerts me from beleeuing it to bee just, so doeth this also decline me that they will not bee brought to tell vs, etc. 1617Beaum. & Fl. Valent. iii. i, Nor any way decline you to discredit. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 175 When I wd doe good I am in the meane while declined to evill. c1634Strafford in Browning Life (1890) 129 This alliance shall not decline me from those more sovereign duties I owe my master. 1658Sir H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 207 Sundry disputes with sinewy Arguments to decline my opinion.
†c. In physical sense: To cause to deviate, deflect (from a straight course, etc.). Obs.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. ii. 59 Contrary poles or faces attract each other, as the North the South, and the like decline each other, as the North the North. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. ii. 71 A Byas, that may decline it a little from a straight Line. Ibid. 137 How can he conceive, that any parcel of dead matter can spontaneously divert and decline it self from the line of its motion.
†d. refl. To withdraw oneself, turn away. Obs.
a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 49 Rawleigh..undertook a new peregrination, to leave..the Court..and, by declining himself, and by absence, to expell his, and the passion of his enemies.
†12. To turn aside from; to get or keep out of the way of; to avoid, shun. Obs. (or merged in 13.)
a1400–50Alexander 4263 All þat ouire mesure is to mekill emell we declyne. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 9 What company to vse, & whome to declyne and eschewe. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 452 Except they meet them in some path way where the man cannot decline the Beast, nor the Beast the Man. 1656Trapp Comm. Matt. vii. 13 Certain dangerous rocks..carefully to be declined. 1705C. Purshall Mech. Macrocosm 145 In Autumn, when the Sun declines us, and its Tendency is towards the Southern Hemisphere. a1711Ken Preparatives Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 49 Guilty sinners, self-condemn'd, Despairing to decline their Fate. 1761New Companion Fest. & Fasts xx. §2. 177 When the fire of persecution breaks out among us, we have our Lord's permission by all prudent and honourable methods to decline it.
13. a. To turn away from (anything suggested or presenting itself) as from a thing which one is unwilling to take up, undertake, or engage in; to withhold oneself from; not to consent to engage in, practise, or do. Now only with nouns of action: to decline a discussion, contest, challenge, etc.: cf. c.
1631Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 58 That Sr Arthur Savage should humbly acknowledge that he had committed a great offence..Sr Arthur declyned this acknowledgement. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §6, I have no Genius to disputes in Religion, and have often thought it wisedome to decline them. 1672Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 320 Declining all military means of settling and securing Ireland in peace and plenty. c1750Johnson, Melissa..gained the victory by declining the contest. 1754Richardson Grandison I. xxviii. 206 What must the man have been that had declined his aid in a distress so alarming. 1786Burke W. Hastings Wks. 1842 II. 187 Bristow, declining the violent attempt on the life of Almas Ali, deceitfully ordered by the said Warren Hastings. 1793― Conduct of Minority ibid. I. 617 To throw an odium upon those who were obliged to decline the cause of justice from their impossibility of supporting a cause which they approve. 1806T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. (ed. 3) I. 11 The fisherman..at one moment was on the point of setting out for Brighton immediately, and the next declined it till the morning. 1824T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 407, I decline all newspaper controversy. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv, They far more readily forgive a commander who loses a battle than a commander who declines one.
b. Not to consent or agree to doing, or to do (something suggested, asked, etc.); hence, practically = refuse: but without the notion of active repulse or rejection conveyed by the latter word, and therefore a milder and more courteous expression. (Constr. vbl. n., inf.; also absol. or intr.)
a1691Boyle (J.), That would not be to render a reason of the thing proposed, but, in effect, to decline rendering any. 1696tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 288, I cannot reasonably decline giving Credit to a Thing..so often confirm'd. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 143 ⁋14 Provided he declines to tread in their footsteps. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VI. xvi. xv. 314, I declined satisfying his curiosity. 1891Pall Mall G. 12 Jan. 3/2 The Archbishop..declined to accept their apology. Mod. He was invited, but declined. Shall we accept or decline?
c. Not to accept (something offered); implying polite or courteous refusal.
c1712Addison (J.), She generously declined them [the glories of this world], because she saw the acceptance of them was inconsistent with religion. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. (L.), The squire said they could not decently decline his visit. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike vii. 84 Being aware of this, Allen would have declined the gift. 1838Thirlwall Greece IV. xxxiii. 312 Ariæus declined the offer of the Greeks. 1884G. Allen Philistia III. 18 Writing magazine articles..which were invariably declined with thanks.
d. Chess. To refuse to take a piece or pawn offered in (a gambit).
[1833W. Lewis Progr. Less. Chess (ed. 2) 138 King's Gambit... The best move for the Black is to take your K.B.P.; but he may decline doing so.] 1847H. Staunton Chess-Player's Handbk. iv. x. 347 (heading) The gambit declined. 1875G. H. D. Gossip Chess-Player's Man. 705 The Queen's Gambit accepted and declined. 1899E. E. Cunnington How to play Chess 48 P–QKt4, offering the sacrifice of a P. to get an attack. Black need not take it (he may retreat the B to Kt3), in which case the Opening is called the Evans declined.
†14. Sc. Law. To refuse, disown, or formally object to the jurisdiction of (a judge or court). Cf. declinator2, declinature 1. ? Obs.
c1450Henryson Tale of Dog 49 Thairfoir as juge suspect, I yow declyne. 1638Short Relat. State Kirk Scotl. 11 The Supplicants declined the Bishops from being their Iudges, as beeing now their parties. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) I. 193 He would not appear, but declined the King and his council, who, he said, were not proper judges of matters of doctrine. 1754Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 18 A judge may be declined, i.e. his jurisdiction disowned judicially, 1. ratione causæ, from his incompetency to the special cause brought before him. 1861W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v. Declinature, A judge who is a partner in a trading company may be declined in a question where the interest of that company is concerned.
†15. To abandon, forsake, give up (a practice).
1672Petty Pol. Anat. 368 As for the interest of these poorer Irish, it is manifestly to be transmuted into English..so as to decline their language. 1679Penn Addr. Prot. ii. 74 The Christians had declin'd the Simplicity of their own Religion and grew Curious and Wanton. 1699Bentley Phal. 317 Herodotus, Dionysius Halic. etc. had great reason to decline the use of their vernacular Tongue, as improper for History. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xiv. viii, Having acquired a very good fortune, he had lately declined his business.
** To cause to bend down, descend, or slope.
16. a. To bend down, bow down, lean.
a1400–50Alexander 5322 And hitterly on ilk side his heued he declines. a1547Surrey Aeneid iv. 239 Ne doth decline to the swete sleepe her eyes. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 55 As they can verie hardly eyther stoupe downe, or decline them selues to the grounde. 1697Potter Antiq. Greece iv. v. (1715) 202 Another Token of Dejection was, to decline their Heads upon their Hands. 1814Southey Roderick xvii, He sate with folded arms and head declined Upon his breast. 1856Bryant Poems, Summer Wind 11 The clover droops..and declines its blooms.
†b. To move or direct obliquely downwards.
15..Spenser (J.), And now fair Phœbus 'gan decline in haste, His weary waggon to the western vale. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 145 His good old Sire with sorrow to the tomb Declines his trembling steps.
†17. To lower, bring down, depress, bring low, degrade, debase. lit. and fig. Obs.
a1400–50Alexander 2334, I þar pompe and þaire pride to poudire declined. 1599Daniel Let. Octavia Wks. 1717 I. 72 For I could never think the aspiring Mind Of worthy and victorious Anthony, Could be by such a Syren so declin'd. 1621Fletcher Isl. Princess i. i, A dull labour that declines a gentleman. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. I, Wks. (1711) 15 To decline the rank growth of these usurpers. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 131 The more they run Northward, the more they..raise the Septentrional Pole, and decline the Austral. c1790J. Imison Sch. Art I. 236 To elevate or decline the glass according to the sun's altitude.
18. To cause to slant or slope, incline downwards.
1578Banister Hist. Man i. 30 Those partes beyng also flat..but somewhat inward declined with all. 1812J. J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 149 Built on a plain pretty much declined towards the street. 1849Ruskin Sev. Lamps iv. §23. 113 The uprightness of the form declined against the marble ledge.
†19. To undervalue, disparage, depreciate. Obs.
1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. ix, She can not declyne The noble science, whiche, after poverte, Maye bryng a man agayne to dignitie. 1626Shirley Brothers i. i, Unless you disaffect His person, or decline his education. 1649Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) I. 143 What is here said is not with intencion to undervallue or decline y⊇ Presbiterians.
*** To inflect grammatically.
20. a. Gram. To inflect (a noun, adjective, or pronoun) through its different cases; to go through or recite in order the cases of. (Cf. declension 4.)
Also used more widely, or loosely, of verbs (for which the proper word is conjugate).
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 327 (Mätz.) Ȝif þou canst declyne þilke tweye names and speke Latyn. 1398― Barth. De P.R. xviii. xc. (1495) 839 Rinoceron is declined, hic Rinoceron, huius Rinocerontis. 1530Palsgr. 65 Of whiche [ix partes of speche] v be declined, that is to say varie their last letters: article, nowne, pronowne, verbe and participle. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. vi. (1627) 56 Of these eight parts, the foure first onely are such as may be declined. 1654Trapp Comm. Ps. xvi. 4 It was the Serpents grammar that first taught man to decline God in the plurall number. a1843Southey Doctor (1862) 40 That verb is eternally being declined. 1871Roby Lat. Gram. I. §339 The substantive stems in -a (chiefly feminine), and the feminine form of those adjectives which have stems in -o, are declined alike.
†b. transf. To say or recite formally or in definite order. Obs.
1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 97 Decline all this, and see what now thou art. 1606― Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 55 Ile declin the whole question. 1627Drayton Agincourt 201 That you no harsh, nor shallow rimes decline, Vpon that day wherein you shall read mine. |