declinare

Declinare is a Latin verb that primarily means to incline, bend downward, or turn aside. It can also be used in a figurative sense to deviate, decline, or reject, including the sense of refusing an invitation or proposal. In linguistic and grammatical contexts, the related noun declinatio denotes the inflection or declension of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns.

Etymology and related forms: The word derives from a prefix meaning down and a root related to bending or leaning. The standard Latin verb is declined as declināre, with the principal parts declinō, declināre, declināvī, declinātum. This places it in the first conjugation in classical Latin grammar. The noun declinatio, from the same root, refers to the act or result of declining (inflecting) or to a declension system itself.

Conjugation overview: In the present active indicative, the form is declinō, declinās, declīn at, declināmus, declinātis, declinant. Other tenses follow regular patterns of the 1st conjugation: imperfect declinābam, declinābās, declinābat, etc.; perfect declināvī, declināvistī, declināvit; future forms include declinābō, declinābis, declinābit, etc. The infinitive is declināre, the supine is declinātum, and the perfect passive participle is declinātus.

Usage and range: Physically, declinare can describe tilting or bending, as in declināre versum caput or declināre oculos, “to bend the head” or “to avert the eyes.” Figuratively, it can mean to decline or refuse an offer or invitation. In grammar, it gives rise to the term declinatio, referring to the inflection patterns of a word’s case endings. In modern scholarly contexts, declinatio remains the Latin term for grammatical declension and is related to the English word decline.

See also: Declinatio, Declination, Decline (linguistics and astronomy).