dē-clīno, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. and n. [CLINO = κλίνω], orig. to bend from the straight path; to turn aside or away (freq. and class.).
I Lit.
a 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, Cat. 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.—
b 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.—
II Trop.
A In gen.
a Act., to turn aside : neque (mulierem) declinatam quicquam ab aliarum ingenio ullam reperias, who has departed, deviated , * Ter. Hec. 200; 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. —
b Neutr., to turn aside, deviate, turn away : de via, Cic. Lael. 17; cf.: de statu suo, id. Clu. 38, 106: a religione officii, id. 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. —
B In partic. grammat. t. t., to vary, inflect a part of speech.
1 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. —
2 In the later grammarians, to decline , in the strict sense, Charis, p. 8 sq. et al. —
C 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.