declension
/dəkˈlenʃən/duh-KLEN-shuhn
/dəkˈlɛnʃən/duh-KLEN-shuhn
Meaningbending or inflection
Common meaning: set of changes in a noun or other word form
- dedown, away, fromSkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 131 · scan
- clensionto lean, slopeLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 815 · scan
‘down, away, from’ + ‘to lean, slope’ → declension
Journey through time
Hybrid: Latin + Greek Its parts come from different languages; the combined form first appears in our sources in Latin.
- de — Latin de- “down, away, from” (path traced)
- clension — Greek κλίνω “to lean, slope” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as declinatio.
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin declinatio, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as de- ‘down, away, from’ + clinare ‘to lean, slope’.
Roots
- declinatio Latin “bending or inflection”
- κλίνω Greek “to lean, slope”
Related words
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