Declination

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Refraction \Re*frac"tion\ (r?*fr?k"sh?n), n. [F. r['e]fraction.]
     1. The act of refracting, or the state of being refracted.
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     2. The change in the direction of ray of light, heat, or the
        like, when it enters obliquely a medium of a different


        density from that through which it has previously moved.
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              Refraction out of the rarer medium into the denser,
              is made towards the perpendicular.    --Sir I.
                                                    Newton.
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     3. (Astron.)
        (a) The change in the direction of a ray of light, and,
            consequently, in the apparent position of a heavenly
            body from which it emanates, arising from its passage
            through the earth's atmosphere; -- hence distinguished
            as atmospheric refraction, or astronomical refraction.
        (b) The correction which is to be deducted from the
            apparent altitude of a heavenly body on account of
            atmospheric refraction, in order to obtain the true
            altitude.
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     {Angle of refraction} (Opt.), the angle which a refracted ray
        makes with the perpendicular to the surface separating the
        two media traversed by the ray.
  
     {Conical refraction} (Opt.), the refraction of a ray of light
        into an infinite number of rays, forming a hollow cone.
        This occurs when a ray of light is passed through crystals
        of some substances, under certain circumstances. Conical
        refraction is of two kinds; external conical refraction,
        in which the ray issues from the crystal in the form of a
        cone, the vertex of which is at the point of emergence;
        and internal conical refraction, in which the ray is
        changed into the form of a cone on entering the crystal,
        from which it issues in the form of a hollow cylinder.
        This singular phenomenon was first discovered by Sir W. R.
        Hamilton by mathematical reasoning alone, unaided by
        experiment.
  
     {Differential refraction} (Astron.), the change of the
        apparent place of one object relative to a second object
        near it, due to refraction; also, the correction required
        to be made to the observed relative places of the two
        bodies.
  
     {Double refraction} (Opt.), the refraction of light in two
        directions, which produces two distinct images. The power
        of double refraction is possessed by all crystals except
        those of the isometric system. A uniaxial crystal is said
        to be optically positive (like quartz), or optically
        negative (like calcite), or to have positive, or negative,
        double refraction, according as the optic axis is the axis
        of least or greatest elasticity for light; a biaxial
        crystal is similarly designated when the same relation
        holds for the acute bisectrix.
  
     {Index of refraction}. See under {Index}.
  
     {Refraction circle} (Opt.), an instrument provided with a
        graduated circle for the measurement of refraction.
  
     {Refraction of latitude}, {longitude}, {declination}, {right
     ascension}, etc., the change in the apparent latitude,
        longitude, etc., of a heavenly body, due to the effect of
        atmospheric refraction.
  
     {Terrestrial refraction}, the change in the apparent altitude
        of a distant point on or near the earth's surface, as the
        top of a mountain, arising from the passage of light from
        it to the eye through atmospheric strata of varying
        density.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Declination \Dec`li*na"tion\, n. [L. declinatio a bending aside,
     an avoiding: cf. F. d['e]clination a decadence. See
     {Declension}.]
     1. The act or state of bending downward; inclination; as,
        declination of the head.
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     2. The act or state of falling off or declining from
        excellence or perfection; deterioration; decay; decline.
        "The declination of monarchy." --Bacon.
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              Summer . . . is not looked on as a time
              Of declination or decay.              --Waller.
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     3. The act of deviating or turning aside; oblique motion;
        obliquity; withdrawal.
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              The declination of atoms in their descent.
                                                    --Bentley.
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              Every declination and violation of the rules.
                                                    --South.
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     4. The act or state of declining or refusing; withdrawal;
        refusal; averseness.
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              The queen's declination from marriage. --Stow.
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     5. (Astron.) The angular distance of any object from the
        celestial equator, either northward or southward.
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     6. (Dialing) The arc of the horizon, contained between the
        vertical plane and the prime vertical circle, if reckoned
        from the east or west, or between the meridian and the
        plane, reckoned from the north or south.
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     7. (Gram.) The act of inflecting a word; declension. See
        {Decline}, v. t., 4.
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     {Angle of declination}, the angle made by a descending line,
        or plane, with a horizontal plane.
  
     {Circle of declination}, a circle parallel to the celestial
        equator.
  
     {Declination compass} (Physics), a compass arranged for
        finding the declination of the magnetic needle.
  
     {Declination of the compass} or {Declination of the needle},
        the horizontal angle which the magnetic needle makes with
        the true north-and-south line.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  declination
       n 1: a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual
            falling off from a better state [syn: {decline}] [ant: {improvement}]
       2: (astronomy) the angular distance to a point on a celestial
          object measured north or south from the celestial equator;
          expressed in degrees; used with right ascension to specify
          positions on the celestial sphere [syn: {celestial
          latitude}, {DEC}]
       3: a downward slope or bend [syn: {descent}, {declivity}, {fall},
           {decline}, {declension}, {downslope}] [ant: {ascent}]
       4: a polite refusal of an invitation [syn: {regrets}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  212 Moby Thesaurus words for "declination":
     Cartesian coordinates, aberrancy, aberration, abjuration,
     abjurement, abnegation, abscissa, altitude, azimuth, bend, bias,
     branching off, cascade, cataract, chucking, chucking out, chute,
     circuitousness, collapse, comedown, contempt, contradiction,
     coordinates, corner, crash, crook, crosswiseness, curve,
     cylindrical coordinates, debacle, debasement, decadence, decadency,
     declension, declinature, decline, declining, deflection, deflexure,
     defluxion, deformation, degeneracy, degenerateness, degeneration,
     degradation, demotion, denial, departure, depravation,
     depravedness, depreciation, deprivation, derogation, descending,
     descension, descent, despisal, despising, deterioration, detour,
     deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness, devolution,
     diagonality, digression, disagreement, disallowance, disapproval,
     discard, disclaimer, disclamation, discounting, discursion,
     dismissal, disobedience, disownment, disregard, dissent,
     divagation, divarication, divergence, diversion, dogleg, double,
     down, downbend, downcome, downcurve, downfall, downflow, downgrade,
     downpour, downrush, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility,
     downward trend, drift, drifting, drop, dropping, dying, ebb,
     ebbing, effeteness, equator coordinates, errantry, exception,
     exclusion, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, fading, failing,
     failure, failure of nerve, fall, falling, falling-off, gravitation,
     hairpin, holding back, ignoring, inclination, indirection,
     indirectness, involution, lapse, latitude, longitude, loss of tone,
     nay, negation, negative, negative answer, nix, no, nonacceptance,
     nonapproval, noncompliance, nonconformity, nonconsent,
     nonconsideration, nonobservance, obliqueness, obliquity, ordinate,
     passing by, pererration, plummeting, polar coordinates, pounce,
     putting away, putting out, rambling, rapids, rebuff, recantation,
     refusal, regression, rejection, renouncement, repudiation, repulse,
     retention, retrocession, retrogradation, retrogression,
     right ascension, scouting, sheer, shift, shifting, shifting course,
     shifting path, skew, skewness, slant, slippage, slump, spurning,
     squint, stoop, straying, sweep, swerve, swerving, swinging, swoop,
     tack, throwing out, thumbs-down, transverseness, turn, turndown,
     turning, turning out, twist, unwillingness, vagary, variation,
     veer, wandering, wane, waning, warp, waterfall, withholding, yaw,
     zigzag