declension - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education

Definition of declension

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de·clen·sion  audio  (d-klnshn) KEY 

NOUN:
  1. Linguistics
    1. In certain languages, the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in categories such as case, number, and gender.
    2. A class of words of one language with the same or a similar system of inflections, such as the first declension in Latin.
  2. A descending slope; a descent.
  3. A decline or decrease; deterioration: "States and empires have their periods of declension" (Laurence Sterne).
  4. A deviation, as from a standard or practice.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English declenson, from Old French declinaison, from Latin dclnti, dclntin-, grammatical declension, declination ; see declination

OTHER FORMS:
de·clension·al(Adjective)


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