/dɪ'klenʃn; dɪ`klɛnʃən/
n (grammar)
(a) [U] varying the endings of nouns and pronouns according to their function in a sentence （名词和代词在句中的）词尾变化. Cf 参看 case1 8.
(b) [C] class of words with the same range of endings for the different cases (case1 8) 在各格中词尾同形的一类词
*In Latin, the nominative case of first declension nouns ends in `a'. 在拉丁文中, 属于第一类词形变化的名词的主格以a结尾.

n[C]
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: French;Origin: déclinaison, from Latin declinare 'to turn aside, inflect']
the set of various forms that a noun, pronoun, or adjective can have according to whether it is the subject, object etc of a sentence in a language such as Latin or German
a particular set of nouns etc that all have the same set of forms