Definition of "declination"

declination

/ˌdɛklɪˈneɪʃən/

noun
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.
  Quotations
  the queen's declination from marriage
  1746, Arthur Collins, Letters And Memorials Of State In the Reigns of Queen Mary
4. (grammar, obsolete) Declension.
5. (archaic) The act or state of bending downward; inclination.
6. (archaic) The act or state of falling off or declining from excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline.
  Quotations
  the declination of monarchy
  1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Cunning”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret
  Summer […] is not looked on as a time of declination or decay.
  c. 1635, Edmund Waller, To My Young Lady Lucy Sidney
7. (archaic) Deviation.
  Quotations
  this declination of atoms in their descent
  1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693
  every violation of and declination from the rules
  November 2, 1690, Robert South, Sinners Inexcusable from Natural Religion Only