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Origin and history of declination

declination(n.)

late 14c., declinacioun, in astronomy, "distance of a heavenly body from the celestial equator, measured on a great circle passing through the body and the celestial pole," from Old French declinacion (Modern French déclinaison) and directly from Latin declinationem (nominative declinatio) "a bending from (something), a bending aside; the supposed slope of the earth toward the poles; a turning away from (something), an avoiding," noun of action from past-participle stem of declinare (see decline (v.)). From c. 1400 as "a bending or sloping downward." Related: Declinational.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to declination

decline(v.)

late 14c., "to turn aside, deviate" (a sense now archaic), also "sink to a lower level," and, figuratively, "fall to an inferior or impaired condition," from Old French decliner "to sink, decline, degenerate, turn aside," from Latin declinare "to lower; avoid, deviate; bend from, inflect," from de "from" (see de-) + clinare "to bend" (from PIE *klein-, suffixed form of root *klei- "to lean").

In grammar, "to inflect as a noun or adjective," from late 14c. The sense has been altered by interpretation of de- as "downward;" intransitive meaning "to bend or slant down" is from c. 1400. Sense of "not to consent, politely refuse or withhold consent to do" is from 1630s. Related: Declined; declining.

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    descent
    c. 1300, "genealogical extraction from an original or progenitor," from Old French descente "descent, descendance, lineage," formed from descendre "to come down" (see descend) on analogy of French nouns such as attente from attendre "to expect," vente "sale" from vendre "to sell,
    fall
    Old English feallan (class VII strong verb; past tense feoll, past participle feallen) "to drop from a height; fail, decay, die," from Proto-Germanic *fallanan (source also of Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan, Dutch vallen, Old Norse falla, Old High German fallan, German falle
    declension
    mid-15c., declinson, in grammar, "the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives, especially with a change in form from the nominative case," ultimately from Latin declinationem (nominative declinatio) "a bending from (something), a bending aside; a turning away from (somethin
    solstice
    is in the Tropicks, are called the Solstices, because at those times the Sun seems to be at a stand with regard to his declination...
    slope
    1590s, "go in an oblique direction," from earlier adjective meaning "slanting" (c. 1500), probably from Middle English aslope (adv.) "on the incline" (late 15c.), from Old English *aslopen, past participle of aslupan "to slip away," from a- "away" + slupan "to slip" (see sleeve).
    status
    1670s, "height" of a situation or condition, later "legal standing of a person" (1791), from Latin status "condition, position, state, manner, attitude," from past-participle stem of stare "to stand" (from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm"). In law, the meaning "legal st
    improvement
    mid-15c., enprowment "profitable use, management of something for profit," from Anglo-French emprowement, from emprouwer "turn to profit" (see improve). Meaning "betterment; act of making better, amelioration" is from 1640s. Meaning "production of something better, something bett
    stance
    1530s, "standing place, station," probably from French stance "resting place, harbor" (16c.), from Vulgar Latin *stantia "place, abode" (also source of Italian stanza "stopping place, station, stanza," Spanish stancia "a dwelling"), from Latin stans (genitive stantis), present pa
    incline
    in early use also encline, c. 1300, "to bend or bow toward," from Old French encliner "to lean, bend, bow down," from Latin inclinare "to cause to lean; bend, incline, turn, divert," from in- "into, in, on, upon" (from PIE root *en "in") + clinare "to bend" (from PIE *klein-, suf
    wreck
    early 13c., "goods cast ashore after a shipwreck, flotsam," from Anglo-French wrec, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse *wrek "wreck, flotsam" (source also of Norwegian, Icelandic rek), related to reka "to drive, push," from Proto-Germanic *wrekan (see wreak (v.)). The m

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