declension of the needle

Declension \De*clen"sion\, n. [Apparently corrupted fr. F.
   d['e]clinaison, fr. L. declinatio, fr. declinare. See
   {Decline}, and cf. {Declination}.]
   1. The act or the state of declining; declination; descent;
      slope.
      [1913 Webster]

            The declension of the land from that place to the
            sea.                                  --T. Burnet.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency;
      deterioration; decay; as, the declension of virtue, of
      science, of a state, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts
            To base declension.                   --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Act of courteously refusing; act of declining; a
      declinature; refusal; as, the declension of a nomination.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Gram.)
      (a) Inflection of nouns, adjectives, etc., according to
          the grammatical cases.
      (b) The form of the inflection of a word declined by
          cases; as, the first or the second declension of
          nouns, adjectives, etc.
      (c) Rehearsing a word as declined.
          [1913 Webster]

   Note: The nominative was held to be the primary and original
         form, and was likened to a perpendicular line; the
         variations, or oblique cases, were regarded as fallings
         (hence called casus, cases, or fallings) from the
         nominative or perpendicular; and an enumerating of the
         various forms, being a sort of progressive descent from
         the noun's upright form, was called a declension.
         --Harris.
         [1913 Webster]

   {Declension of the needle}, declination of the needle.
      [1913 Webster]