Decline Definition

dĭ-klīn

declined, declines, declining

verb

declined, declines, declining

To refuse, esp. in a formally polite way.

I must decline your offer.

Webster's New World

To bend, turn, or slope downward or aside.

Webster's New World

To bend downward; droop.

Boughs declining toward the ground.

American Heritage

To approach the end; wane.

The day is declining.

Webster's New World

To sink, as the setting sun.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

declines

The process or result of declining, especially:

American Heritage

A declining or becoming less, smaller, etc.; decay.

Webster's New World

A failing of health, etc.

Webster's New World

A period of decline.

Webster's New World

The last part.

The decline of life.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Decline

Singular:

decline

Plural:

From Middle English declinen, from Old French decliner, from Latin declinare (“to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline”), from de (“down”) + clīnō (“I bend, I incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (English lean).

From Wiktionary
Middle English declinen from Old French decliner from Latin dēclīnāre to turn away, bend downward, change the form of a word dē- de- -clīnāre to lean, bend klei- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition