declinatio Latin · revision 34481

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la dēclīnō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēclīnātiō''' ''f'' (genitive dēclīnātiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|dēclīnō|-tiō|t1=to turn aside; to inflect]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) In its grammatical sense it is a calque of [[grc|ἔγκλισις|tr=énklisis]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of a slight movement aside: in the first speech against Catiline he recalls how many thrusts he had escaped ''parvā quādam dēclīnātiōne'', by a small swerve of the body.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Cicero also uses it of the swerve of atoms in Epicurean physics,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) of a turning away from something, avoidance, as opposed to desire,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and in rhetoric of a brief digression.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Vitruvius and Columella use it of the slope of the sky or earth and so of a region or latitude.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Varro and Quintilian use it in grammar for the change of form of a word, inflection, including declension and conjugation, and Varro also for derivation.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ In medieval Latin it also means decline or weakening.^(Niermeyer 1976) Medieval writers in Britain use it of decay, of the setting of the sun, of the abating of a fever and, in astronomy, of declination.^(DMLBS) English took ''declination'' from Old French and directly from Latin in the late 14th century;^(Etymonline) ''declension'', perhaps through French, followed in the 15th.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a swerve of the body and of atoms, and of avoidance.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of grammatical inflection.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of the declension of Greek nouns.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – Borrowed into English as ''declination''.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – English ''declension'' appears in grammar.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A turning aside, [[m|en|swerve]], [[m|en|deviation]]; a leaning of the body.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A bend or slope.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # The slope of the heavens; a region, [[m|en|latitude]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # [[m|en|avoidance|alt=Avoidance]]; aversion.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(rhetoric)'' A brief [[m|en|digression]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Divergence, variation.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(grammar)'' [[m|en|inflection|alt=Inflection]], [[m|en|declension]]; an inflected form.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Decline, weakening.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, astronomy)'' [[m|en|declination|alt=Declination]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}