Standard Lemma guide

declension

noun · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /dɪˈklɛn.ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AH0 K L EH1 N SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A falling off, decay or descent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The act of declining a word; the act of listing the inflections of a noun, pronoun or adjective in order.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The product of that act; a list of declined forms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • a page full of declensions

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A way of categorizing nouns, pronouns, or adjectives according to the inflections they receive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • In Latin, 'amicus' belongs to the second declension. Most second-declension nouns end in '-i' in the genitive singular and '-um' in the accusative singular.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a class of nouns or pronouns or adjectives in Indo-European languages having the same (or very similar) inflectional forms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the first declension in Latin

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: class, category, family

6

noun

Meaning 6

a downward slope or bend

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: descent, declivity, fall, decline, declination, downslope

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: slope, incline, side

Narrower terms: downhill, steep

7

noun

Meaning 7

process of changing to an inferior state

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deterioration, decline in quality, worsening

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: decline, diminution

Narrower terms: slump, slack, drop-off, falloff, falling off

8

noun

Meaning 8

the inflection of nouns and pronouns and adjectives in Indo-European languages

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inflection, inflexion

History

Etymology

From late Middle English declinson, from Middle French declinaison (Modern French: déclinaison), from Latin dēclīnātiō. Doublet of declination.

Across languages

Translations

131 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: lakim — act
  • Asturian: declinación — act
  • Belarusian: склане́нне (sklanjénnje) — act
  • Belarusian: склане́ньне (sklanjénʹnje) — act
  • Bulgarian: скланя́не (sklanjáne) — act
  • Catalan: declinació — act
  • Czech: deklinace — act
  • Czech: skloňování — act
  • Dutch: verbuiging — act
  • Dutch: declinatie — act
  • Esperanto: deklinacio — act
  • Finnish: taivutus — act
  • French: déclinaison — act
  • Georgian: ბრუნება (bruneba) — act
  • German: Deklination — act
  • Greek: κλίση (klísi) — act
  • Ancient Greek: κλίσις (klísis) — act
  • Ancient Greek: συζυγία (suzugía) — act
  • Hebrew: הַטָּיָה (hatayá) — act
  • Hungarian: névszóragozás — act
  • Latin: declinatio — act
  • Norman: dêclyinnaîson — act
  • Polish: deklinacja — act
  • Polish: odmiana przez przypadki — act
  • Portuguese: declinação — act
  • Romanian: declinare — act
  • Romanian: declinație — act
  • Russian: склоне́ние (sklonénije) — act
  • Slovak: skloňovanie — act
  • Slovene: sklanjanje — act
  • Spanish: declinación — act
  • Turkish: gerileme — act
  • Ukrainian: відмі́на (vidmína) — act
  • Albanian: lakim — way of categorizing
  • Arabic: إِعْرَاب (ʔiʕrāb) — way of categorizing
  • Arabic: صَرْف (ṣarf) — way of categorizing
  • Arabic: تَصْرِيف الْأَسْمَاء (taṣrīf al-ʔasmāʔ) — way of categorizing
  • Arabic: تَصْرِيف (taṣrīf) — way of categorizing
  • Armenian: հոլովում (holovum) — way of categorizing
  • Asturian: declinación — way of categorizing
  • Azerbaijani: hallanma — way of categorizing
  • Azerbaijani: hallandırma — way of categorizing
  • Belarusian: склане́нне (sklanjénnje) — way of categorizing
  • Belarusian: склане́ньне (sklanjénʹnje) — way of categorizing
  • Bengali: বিভক্তি (bibhokti) — way of categorizing
  • Bulgarian: склоне́ние (sklonénie) — way of categorizing
  • Catalan: declinació — way of categorizing
  • Chechen: легар (legar) — way of categorizing
  • Chinese Cantonese: 變格 /变格 (bin3 gaak3) — way of categorizing
  • Chinese Mandarin: 變格 /变格 (biàngé) — way of categorizing
  • Czech: deklinace — way of categorizing
  • Czech: skloňování — way of categorizing
  • Danish: deklination — way of categorizing
  • Dutch: verbuiging — way of categorizing
  • Esperanto: deklinacio — way of categorizing
  • Estonian: käänamine — way of categorizing
  • Faroese: orðbending — way of categorizing
  • Finnish: taivutusluokka — way of categorizing
  • French: déclinaison — way of categorizing
  • Galician: declinación — way of categorizing
  • Georgian: ბრუნება (bruneba) — way of categorizing
  • German: Deklination — way of categorizing
  • Greek: κλίση (klísi) — way of categorizing
  • Ancient Greek: κλίσις (klísis) — way of categorizing
  • Ancient Greek: συζυγία (suzugía) — way of categorizing
  • Hebrew: נְטִיָּה (n'tiyá) — way of categorizing
  • Hindi: विभक्ति (vibhakti) — way of categorizing
  • Hungarian: névszóragozás — way of categorizing
  • Hungarian: névszóragozási típus — way of categorizing
  • Icelandic: fallbeyging — way of categorizing
  • Icelandic: beyging falla — way of categorizing
  • Irish: díochlaonadh — way of categorizing
  • Italian: declinazione — way of categorizing
  • Japanese: 変化 (henka) — way of categorizing
  • Japanese: 曲用 (kyokuyō) — way of categorizing
  • Japanese: ディクレンション (dikurenshon) — way of categorizing
  • Japanese: 格変化 (kakuhenka) — way of categorizing
  • Kazakh: септелу (septelu) — way of categorizing
  • Kazakh: септеу (septeu) — way of categorizing
  • Kazakh: септік (septık) — way of categorizing
  • Korean: 어형변화 (eohyeongbyeonhwa) — way of categorizing
  • Korean: 곡용 (gogyong) — way of categorizing
  • Korean: 변화 (byeonhwa) — way of categorizing
  • Korean: 격변화 (gyeokbyeonhwa) — way of categorizing
  • Kyrgyz: жөндөлүш (jöndölüş) — way of categorizing
  • Latin: declinatio — way of categorizing
  • Latvian: deklinācija — way of categorizing
  • Lithuanian: deklinacija — way of categorizing
  • Lithuanian: linksniuotė — way of categorizing
  • Macedonian: деклинација (deklinacija) — way of categorizing
  • Malagasy: fihilana ara-tsokajinteny — way of categorizing
  • Middle English: declinson — way of categorizing
  • Middle English: declinacioun — way of categorizing
  • Mongolian: нэрийн ялгал (neriin jalgal) — way of categorizing
  • Norman: dêclyinnaîson — way of categorizing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: deklinasjon — way of categorizing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bøyning — way of categorizing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bøying — way of categorizing
  • Old English: declīnung — way of categorizing
  • Iranian Persian: تَصْریف (tasrif) — way of categorizing
  • Iranian Persian: صَرْف (sarf) — way of categorizing
  • Polish: deklinacja — way of categorizing
  • Polish: odmiana przez przypadki — way of categorizing
  • Portuguese: declinação — way of categorizing
  • Romanian: declinare — way of categorizing
  • Romanian: declinație — way of categorizing
  • Russian: склоне́ние (sklonénije) — way of categorizing
  • Serbo-Croatian: деклина́ција — way of categorizing
  • Serbo-Croatian: скло̀нидба — way of categorizing
  • Serbo-Croatian: скла̏ња̄ње — way of categorizing
  • Serbo-Croatian: deklinácija — way of categorizing
  • Serbo-Croatian: sklònidba — way of categorizing
  • Serbo-Croatian: sklȁnjānje — way of categorizing
  • Slovak: skloňovanie — way of categorizing
  • Slovene: sklanjatev — way of categorizing
  • Spanish: declinación — way of categorizing
  • Swedish: deklination — way of categorizing
  • Swedish: böjning — way of categorizing
  • Tagalog: saukol — way of categorizing
  • Tajik: хам карданӣ (xam kardani) — way of categorizing
  • Tajik: тасриф (tasrif) — way of categorizing
  • Thai: การผันคํานาม — way of categorizing
  • Thai: การผันคําสรรพนาม — way of categorizing
  • Thai: การผันคําวิเศษณ์ — way of categorizing
  • Turkish: çekim — way of categorizing
  • Ukrainian: відмі́на (vidmína) — way of categorizing
  • Urdu: اِمالَہ (imāla) — way of categorizing
  • Uzbek: turlanish — way of categorizing
  • Vietnamese: biến cách — way of categorizing
  • Yiddish: דעקלינאַציע (deklinatsye) — way of categorizing
  • Zazaki: antış (diq) — way of categorizing
Real reading context

declension in complete knowledge articles