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Webster 1913 Edition


Declination

Decˊli-na′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
declinatio
a bending aside, an avoiding: cf. F.
déclination
a decadence. See
Declension
.]
1.
The act or state of bending downward; inclination;
as,
declination
of the head
.
2.
The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline.
“The declination of monarchy.”
Bacon.
Summer . . . is not looked on as a time
Of
declination
or decay.
Waller.
3.
The act of deviating or turning aside; oblique motion; obliquity; withdrawal.
The
declination
of atoms in their descent.
Bentley.
Every
declination
and violation of the rules.
South.
4.
The act or state of declining or refusing; withdrawal; refusal; averseness.
The queen’s
declination
from marriage.
Stow.
5.
(Astron.)
The angular distance of any object from the celestial equator, either northward or southward.
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.
7.
(Gram.)
The act of inflecting a word; declension. See
Decline
,
Verb.
T.
, 4.
Angle of declination
,
the angle made by a descending line, or plane, with a horizontal plane.
Circle of declination
,
a circle parallel to the celestial equator.
Declination compass
(Physics)
,
a compass arranged for finding the declination of the magnetic needle.
Declination of the compass
or
Declination of the needle
,
the horizontal angle which the magnetic needle makes with the true north-and-south line.

Webster 1828 Edition


Declination

DECLINA'TION

, n.

Definition 2024


declination

declination

English

Noun

declination (plural declinations)

  1. At a given point, the angle between magnetic north and true north.
  2. At a given point, the angle between the line connecting this point with the geographical center of the earth and the equatorial plane.
  3. A refusal.
    • Stow
      the queen's declination from marriage
  4. (grammar) Declension.
  5. (archaic) The act or state of bending downward; inclination.
    declination of the head
  6. (archaic) The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline.
    • Francis Bacon
      the declination of monarchy
    • Waller
      Summer [] is not looked on as a time of declination or decay.
  7. (archaic) Deviation.
    • Bentley
      the declination of atoms in their descent
    • South
      every declination and violation of the rules

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