declination

1. 1.

   a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state

   Synonymsdecline

   Broadercondition

   Narrowerneglecttwilightwreck
2. 2.

   a downward slope or bend

   Synonymsdescentdeclivityfalldeclinedeclensiondownslope

   Broaderslope

   Narrowerdownhillsteep
3. 3.

   (astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial body north or to the south of the celestial equator; expressed in degrees; used with right ascension to specify positions on the celestial sphere

   Synonymscelestial latitudedec

   Broaderangular distance

   astronomy

4. 4.

   a polite refusal of an invitation

   Synonymsregrets

   Broaderrefusalacknowledgment

Other forms of declination

plural

declinations·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about declination

What does declination mean?

declination means "a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in declination?

declination has 5 syllables: de-cli-na-ti-on. The stress falls on "ti".

What is another word for declination?

Close synonyms include decline, descent, declivity, fall, decline. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is declination a common word?

declination is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.