Learn English – Noun form of verb “decline”

antonymsnounssingle-word-requests

Is there a noun form of the verb "to decline"?

That is, is there a word that follows this pattern:

to accept  -> acceptance
to decline -> ?

I am aware of the word declination which is the closest I've found, but that seems to reflect the meaning of "decline" as related to "incline" and "recline" rather than the synonym of refuse.

If not, are there synonyms of "decline" that follow this pattern?

Best Answer

The OED has six nouns formed from decline with the meaning you are looking for, but all of them are rare or obsolete:

declension 5. The action of declining. rare.

declinal rare. The action of declining.

declination †6. The withholding of acceptance.

† declinement = declinature

declining 2. Avoidance (obs.); non-acceptance; refusal.

declinature 2. The action of declining or refusing.

Related Topic