decline
decline (dĭ-klīnʹ) verb
declined, declining, declines
verb, intransitive
1. To express polite refusal.
2. a. To slope downward; descend. b. To bend downward; droop.
3. To degrade or lower oneself; condescend.
4. To deteriorate gradually; fail.
5. a. To sink, as the setting sun. b. To draw to a gradual close; wane.
verb, transitive
1. To refuse politely: I declined their offer of help. See synonyms at refuse1.
2. To cause to slope or bend downward.
3. Grammar. To inflect (a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective) for number and case.
noun
1. The process or result of declining, especially a gradual deterioration.
2. A downward movement.
3. The period when something approaches an end.
4. A downward slope; a declivity.
5. A disease that gradually weakens or wastes the body.
[Middle English declinen, from Old French decliner, from Latin dēclīnāre, to turn away, bend downward, change the form of a word : dē-, de- + -clīnāre, to lean, bend.]
declinʹable adjective
declinʹer noun