Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - declination

 noun  Etymology: Middle English declinacioun, from Middle French ~, from Latin ~-, declinatio angle of the heavens, turning aside  Date: 14th century  1. angular distance north or south from the celestial equator measured along a great circle passing through the celestial poles  2. a turning aside or swerving  3. deterioration moral ~  4. a bending downward ; inclination  5. a formal refusal  6. the angle formed between a magnetic needle and the geographical meridian  • ~al adjective