different between decline vs descent

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??kla?n/
• Hyphenation: de?cline
• Rhymes: -a?n

Noun

decline (countable and uncountable, plural declines)

1. Downward movement, fall.(Can we add an example for this sense?)
2. A sloping downward, e.g. of a hill or road.(Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. A weakening.(Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. A reduction or diminution of activity.
6. The act of declining or refusing something.

Antonyms

• incline

Translations

Verb

decline (third-person singular simple present declines, present participle declining, simple past and past participle declined)

1. (intransitive) To move downwards, to fall, to drop.

2. (intransitive) To become weaker or worse.

3. (transitive) To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.

   • in melancholy site, with head declined
4. (transitive) To cause to decrease or diminish.

   • You have declin'd his means.

   • He knoweth his error, but will not seek to decline it.

5. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.

   a line that declines from straightness

   conduct that declines from sound morals

   • Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.

6. (transitive) To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
   • 1626, Philip Massinger, The Roman Actor

     Could I decline this dreadful hour?

7. (transitive, grammar, usually of substantives, adjectives and pronouns) To inflect for case, number and sometimes gender; more specifically, to recite all the different declined forms of a noun.
   • 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster (first edition)

     after the first declining of a noun and a verb

8. (by extension) To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
9. (American football, Canadian football) To reject a penalty against the opposing team, usually because the result of accepting it would benefit the non-penalized team less than the preceding play.

   The team chose to decline the fifteen-yard penalty because their receiver had caught the ball for a thirty-yard gain.

Usage notes

• Decline, refuse, forbear, refrain: Decline is gentler than refuse and carries a connotation that the non-acceptance is an acceptable or anticipated option (decline an invitation) or the result of a considered decision (the judge declined to grant the motion). Refuse has a stronger connotation of rejection, firmness, resistance, or non-compliance. For example, if someone declines to give their name, that suggests they were given a choice and elected not to give their name. If someone refuses to give their name, the connotation is more toward a suggestion that they normally should have given their name and are being intransigent. Forbear or refrain, conversely, suggest choosing not to do something that one might indulge in or be tempted to do (refrain from smoking), with forbear having an added connotation of showing some fortitude in withstanding the temptation (forbear to show anger). Refrain can also be used to refer to a general policy or preference rather than a choice on a single occasion.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• decline in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• decline in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• decline at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Delnice

Portuguese

Verb

decline

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of declinar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of declinar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of declinar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of declinar

Romanian

Verb

decline

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of declina
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of declina

Spanish

Verb

decline

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of declinar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of declinar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of declinar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of declinar.

English

Etymology

From Middle English and Anglo-Norman descente, from Anglo-Norman descendre (“to descend”); see descend. Compare ascent, ascend. Doublet of desant.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??s?nt/
• Homophones: dissent (for some dialects)

Noun

descent (countable and uncountable, plural descents)

1. An instance of descending; act of coming down.
   • 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track

     The next one surrendered his bike, only for that, too, to give him a second flat as he started the descent.

2. A way down.

   We had difficulty in finding the correct descent.

3. A sloping passage or incline.

   The descent into the cavern was wet and slippery.

4. Lineage or hereditary derivation.

   Our guide was of Welsh descent.

5. A drop to a lower status or condition; decline. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   After that, the holiday went into a steep descent.

6. A falling upon or invasion.
7. (topology) A particular extension of the idea of gluing. See Descent (mathematics).

Usage notes

• Sometimes confused with decent.

Antonyms

• (going down): ascent

Derived terms

• hypodescent, hyperdescent

Related terms

• descend

Translations

Further reading

• descent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• descent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• cedents, scented