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declination
[dek-luh-ney-shuhn]
noun
a bending, sloping, or moving downward.
deterioration; decline.
a swerving or deviating, as from a standard.
a polite refusal.
Astronomy.the angular distance of a heavenly body from the celestial equator, measured on the great circle passing through the celestial pole and the body.
the formal refusal by a nominee of a nomination to public office.
declination
/ ˌɛɪˈԱɪʃə /
noun
Compare: right ascension. δ.astronomy the angular distance, esp in degrees, of a star, planet, etc, from the celestial equator measured north (positive) or south (negative) along the great circle passing through the celestial poles and the body
a refusal, esp a courteous or formal one
declination
On the celestial sphere, the position of a celestial object north or south of the celestial equator. Declination is measured in degrees along a great circle drawn through the object being measured and the north and south celestial poles, with positive values north of the celestial equator and negative values south of it, so that the equator itself is 0° and the north and south celestial poles are +90° and −90° declination respectively.
See more at equatorial coordinate system
Other Word Forms
- declinational adjective
- predeclination noun
- ˌˈԲپDzԲ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of declination1
Example Sentences
Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under President Obama, posted on X: “Had his name been Joe Smith the resolution would have been — fundamentally and more fairly — a declination” on filing criminal charges.
He could have simply said he declined to prosecute and left it at that but what he did was nothing less than a partisan hit job masquerading as a prosecutorial declination.
“We will say, and our declination letter does say, that the decision of the deputy to jump into the vehicle at that point was unusual,” he said.
Previous experimental studies over several decades provide strong evidence that birds, sea turtles and other organisms key into small changes in magnetic inclination, intensity and declination when making orientation decisions and developing navigational maps.
Before taking a bearing, a compass needs to be adjusted for declination.
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When To Use
In astronomy, the declination of a celestial object (such as a star or planet) is its position in relation to the celestial equator—the imaginary flat surface that extends out from Earth’s equator in all directions.In astronomy, heavenly bodies like planets and stars are considered in terms of their position in the celestial sphere—the imaginary sphere that extends out infinitely from Earth. (Picture an infinitely huge ball with Earth as its center.) The celestial equator cuts this sphere in half.Declination involves the measurement of the position of such objects as being north or south of the celestial equator. Those north of the celestial equator are measured in positive degrees, and those south of it are measured in negative degrees. The declination of the north celestial pole is 90° and the declination of the south celestial pole is -90°. For example, during the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is at a declination of 23° north.Declination also has several more general meanings, but none of them are commonly used. In most of these cases, there is another, more common word that can be used in its place.Declination can mean a bending or sloping downward. Things that slope this way, such as the parts of a plant, can be described with the adjective declinate. Declination can also mean deterioration—the process or an instance of something getting worse. In both of these senses, it can often be replaced with the noun decline. Declination can also refer to deviation, such as from a standard.A declination can also be a polite refusal, especially in a formal or official situation. In this sense, it is a noun form of the verb decline, meaning to refuse or to turn something down.In most cases, it’s much more common for people to use words like deterioration, decline, deviation, and refusal than declination.
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