the inflection of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives for case, number, and gender
b.
the complete set of the inflections of such a word
"puella" is a first-declension noun in Latin
2.
a decline or deviation from a standard, belief, etc
3.
a downward slope or bend
Derived forms
declensional (deˈclensional)
adjective
declensionally (deˈclensionally)
adverb
Word origin
C15: from Latin dēclīnātiō, literally: a bending aside, hence variation, inflection; see decline
declension in American English
(diˈklɛnʃən; dɪˈklɛnʃən)
noun
1.
a bending or sloping downward; slope; descent
2.
a falling off or away; decline, deterioration
3. Grammar
a.
a class of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives having the same or a similar system of inflectionsto show case
b.
the inflection of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives
Word origin
ME declenson < OFr declinaison < L declinatio, a bending aside, inflection (< pp. of declinare: see decline): ME form infl. by assoc. with L descensio, a descending: see descend; (sense 3) from the concept of cases as “declining” from the nominative: cf. , case1 (sense 9)
Synonyms of 'declension'
inflection, variation
More Synonyms of declension
(noun)
Definition
changes in the form of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives to show case, number, and gender
Synonyms
inflection
At around 2 years, the child adds many grammatical inflections.