Declension of the needle

Declension of the needle
Declension De*clen"sion, n. [Apparently corrupted fr. F. d['e]clinaison, fr. L. declinatio, fr. declinare. See {Decline}, and cf. {Declination}.] 1. The act or the state of declining; declination; descent; slope. [1913 Webster]

The declension of the land from that place to the sea. --T. Burnet. [1913 Webster]

2. A falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay; as, the declension of virtue, of science, of a state, etc. [1913 Webster]

Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts To base declension. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3. Act of courteously refusing; act of declining; a declinature; refusal; as, the declension of a nomination. [1913 Webster]

4. (Gram.) (a) Inflection of nouns, adjectives, etc., according to the grammatical cases. (b) The form of the inflection of a word declined by cases; as, the first or the second declension of nouns, adjectives, etc. (c) Rehearsing a word as declined. [1913 Webster]

Note: The nominative was held to be the primary and original form, and was likened to a perpendicular line; the variations, or oblique cases, were regarded as fallings (hence called casus, cases, or fallings) from the nominative or perpendicular; and an enumerating of the various forms, being a sort of progressive descent from the noun's upright form, was called a declension. --Harris. [1913 Webster]

{Declension of the needle}, declination of the needle. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Declination of the needle — Declination Dec li*na tion, n. [L. declinatio a bending aside, an avoiding: cf. F. d[ e]clination a decadence. See {Declension}.] 1. The act or state of bending downward; inclination; as, declination of the head. [1913 Webster] 2. The act or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • declination of the needle — Variation Va ri*a tion, n. [OE. variatioun, F. variation, L. variatio. See {Vary}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing; modification; alternation; mutation; diversity;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Variation of the needle — Variation Va ri*a tion, n. [OE. variatioun, F. variation, L. variatio. See {Vary}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing; modification; alternation; mutation; diversity;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Declension — De*clen sion, n. [Apparently corrupted fr. F. d[ e]clinaison, fr. L. declinatio, fr. declinare. See {Decline}, and cf. {Declination}.] 1. The act or the state of declining; declination; descent; slope. [1913 Webster] The declension of the land… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • the North sea — ground ground (ground), n. [OE. ground, grund, AS. grund; akin to D. grond, OS., G., Sw., & Dan. grund, Icel. grunnr bottom, Goth. grundus (in composition); perh. orig. meaning, dust, gravel, and if so perh. akin to E. grind.] 1. The surface of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Irish declension — The declension of Irish nouns, the definite article, and the adjectives is discussed on this page. (For pronouns, see Irish morphology.)NounsGenderNouns in Irish are divided into two genders, masculine and feminine. While gender should be learned …   Wikipedia

  • Declination of the compass — Declination Dec li*na tion, n. [L. declinatio a bending aside, an avoiding: cf. F. d[ e]clination a decadence. See {Declension}.] 1. The act or state of bending downward; inclination; as, declination of the head. [1913 Webster] 2. The act or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Variation of the moon — Variation Va ri*a tion, n. [OE. variatioun, F. variation, L. variatio. See {Vary}.] [1913 Webster] 1. The act of varying; a partial change in the form, position, state, or qualities of a thing; modification; alternation; mutation; diversity;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ground of the heavens — ground ground (ground), n. [OE. ground, grund, AS. grund; akin to D. grond, OS., G., Sw., & Dan. grund, Icel. grunnr bottom, Goth. grundus (in composition); perh. orig. meaning, dust, gravel, and if so perh. akin to E. grind.] 1. The surface of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • To bite the ground — ground ground (ground), n. [OE. ground, grund, AS. grund; akin to D. grond, OS., G., Sw., & Dan. grund, Icel. grunnr bottom, Goth. grundus (in composition); perh. orig. meaning, dust, gravel, and if so perh. akin to E. grind.] 1. The surface of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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