verb transitive intransitive

dē-clīno

2nd PP dē-clīnāre · 3rd PP dē-clīnāvi · 4th PP dē-clīnātum · conj. 1st

CLINO = κλίνω, orig.

to bend from; to turn aside; away

to bend from the straight path; to turn aside or away (freq. and class.).

to bend down; to lower, close poetic ••

Act.: ego modo declinavi paullum me extra viam, Plaut. Aul. 4, 8, 11; cf.: sese rectā regione viai, Lucr. 2, 250; and: se a terris omnia numina, Poët. ap. Suet. Aug. 70: lumina, Catull. 64, 91: agmen, Liv. 1, 28; 36, 23: nares in alteram partem, Cels. 8, 5.—Poet. of the eyes, to bend down, i. e. to lower, close them in sleep: nec dulci declinat lumina somno, * Verg. A. 4, 185.—

Neutr; de via deducat •

Neutr.: paulum ad dexteram de via declinavi, ut ad Pericli sepulcrum accederem, Cic. Fin. 5, 2, 5; id. Att. 14, 17, 2; Liv. 38, 20, 8.—So of the oblique motion of atoms (corresp. with oblique ferri): si omnes atomi declinabunt, nullae umquam cohaerescent; sive aliae declinabunt, aliae suo nutu recte ferentur, etc., Cic. Fin. 1, 6, 19 sq.; cf. id. Fat. 9, 18 (preceded by cur Epicurus atomos de via deducat): quae nova causa in natura est, qua declinet atomus? 20, 46 (the reading quae declinet atomum is wrong), id. N. D. 1, 25.—

figuratively

in general

Act., to turn aside; who has departed, deviated •

Act., to turn aside: neque (mulierem) declinatam quicquam ab aliarum ingenio ullam reperias, who has departed, deviated, * Ter. Hec. 2, 1, 3; cf.: quaedam verborum flgurae paulum figuris sententiarum declinantur, Quint. 9, 3, 88; id. 10, 3, 33: neque spe, neque metu declinatus animus, id. 12, 1, 16: Cato literas Graecas aetate jam declinata didicit, in the decline of life, id. 12, 11, 23. —

Neutr., to turn aside, deviate, turn away absol •••

Neutr., to turn aside, deviate, turn away: de via, Cic. Lael. 17; cf.: de statu suo, id. Clu. 38, 106: a religione officii, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 1: a malis (opp. appetere bona), id. Tusc. 4, 6, 13: a parvis delictis diligentius, id. Off. 1, 40 fin.: aliquantulum a proposito, id. Or. 40, 138: a recto itinere (oratio), Quint. 4, 3, 14 al.: gemma paulum declinans a topazio in aurum, passing, Plin. 37, 8, 34, § 113: ut eo revocetur unde huc declinavit oratio, digressed, Cic. de Or. 2, 38; cf. id. Leg. 1, 21 fin.: quantum in Italiam declinaverat belli, Liv. 28, 1: in asperam Pholoen, Hor. Od. 1, 33, 7: in pejus, Quint. 10, 2, 16: ad discendum jus, Quint. 12, 3, 9; cf. id. 7, 2, 30.—Absol.: declinasse me paululum et praesentes fluctus fugisse, Cic. Sest. 34: paulatim amor, decreases, Ov. M. 9, 460: dies coeperat declinare, Vulg. Luc. 9, 12. —

to vary, inflect

In partic. grammat. t. t., to vary, inflect a part of speech.

In the older grammarians, of every kind of inflection (declension, conjugation,…

In the older grammarians, of every kind of inflection (declension, conjugation, comparison, derivation, etc.), Varr. L. L. 8, § 2 sq.; 10, § 11 sq.; cf. also Quint. 1, 4, 22; 1, 5, 63 al. —

to decline

In the later grammarians, to decline, in the strict sense, Charis, p. 8 sq. et al. —

to avoid, to shun by extension •••

Transf., with an object denoting that from which one turns aside; to avoid, to shun (classical, most freq. in Cic.); nec satis recte (oratio) declinat impetum, nisi etiam in cedendo quid deceat intellegit, Cic. Or. 68, 228; cf., corresp. with vitare, id. Att. 8, 11, D. fin.; and: ictum, Liv. 42, 63, 4: urbem, Cic. Planc. 41: laqueos judicii, id. Mil. 15, 40: appetuntur quae secundum naturam sunt, declinantur contraria, id. N. D. 3, 13, 33: vitia, id. Off. 1, 6, 19: ea quae nocitura videantur, id. ib. 1, 4; cf. Tac. A. 13, 4: invidiam, id. H. 4, 41 fin.; Suet. Caes. 4: impudicitiam uxoris, Tac. A. 6, 51: oppida ut busta, Amm. 16, 2, 12.

Perseus ID: n12519 Key: declino