different between descent vs declination

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English declinacioun, borrowed from Middle French declination, from Latin declinatio. Doublet of declension

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?kl??ne???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

declination (countable and uncountable, plural declinations)

1. At a given point, the angle between magnetic north and true north.
2. At a given point, the angle between the line connecting this point with the geographical center of the earth and the equatorial plane.
3. A refusal.
   • 1746, Arthur Collins, Letters And Memorials Of State In the Reigns of Queen Mary

     the queen's declination from marriage

4. (grammar, obsolete) Declension.
5. (archaic) The act or state of bending downward; inclination.

   declination of the head

6. (archaic) The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Cunning

     the declination of monarchy

   • c. 1635, Edmund Waller, To My Young Lady Lucy Sidney

     Summer […] is not looked on as a time of declination or decay.

7. (archaic) Deviation.
   • April 4, 1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism

     this declination of atoms in their descent

   • November 2, 1690, Robert South, Sinners Inexcusable from Natural Religion Only

     every violation of and declination from the rules

Derived terms

• codeclination
• declinational
• magnetic declination

Related terms

• decline

Translations

Anagrams

• nonciliated