Etymograph

English

decline

Decline comes from Middle English declinen ‘to bend or droop’, from Latin declīnō ‘to bend’, from PIE *ḱley-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱley-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdeclīnō‘to bend’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500declinen‘To bend or droop’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1570decline

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱley-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdeclīnō‘to bend’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500declinen‘To bend or droop’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1570decline

Earliest quotation: 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster: “after the first declining of a noun and a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-

law, low, climate, lean, ladder, lid, climax, inclination, eyelid, clinician, incline, proclivity, recline, 27 more

through Latin declīnō ‘to bend, turn aside, deflect, inflect, decline’

declension, 2 more

Today it means

noun Downward movement, fall.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- / decline

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