Declension, Descent, Down, Dune: Origins, Forms, Histories of Words Meaning Hill or Slope

The natural features of a region are called its topography. The word comes from Greek topos ("place").

English speakers have a long history of inventing (or borrowing from other languages) all sorts of different names for related topographical features.

Hill and slopes, for example, are known by a wide range of words in English, each with its own unique story to tell.

In the alphabetically arranged presentation of such terms in the current series, the next words are these: declension, decline, declivity, descent, down, downgrade, downhill, dun, and dune. Here is an overview of their origins, forms, and histories. The dates of first appearance of the forms and meanings are from the Oxford English Dictionary.

Declension
Modern English declension comes from Middle English declenson (15th century), a modification of Middle French declinaison. The French word derives from Latin declination-, a combining form of declinatio ("grammatical inflection, turning aside"), from declinare ("to inflect, turn aside").

In English, the word quickly developed several different meanings, including any action or state of declining and, in particular, grammatical inflection.

One of those meanings pertained to topography: a slope, viewed specifically as a descent (c. 1684).

Decline
Modern English decline comes from Middle English decline (15th century) and declyn (14th century), from Middle French declin. The French noun derives from the verb decliner ("to sink"), from Latin declinare ("to inflect, turn aside").

In English, decline developed several different meanings having to do with sinking or deteriorating.

One of those meanings pertained to topography: a downward slope (1538).

Declivity
The English word declivity comes from Latin declivitat-, a combining form of declivitas, from declivis ("sloping downward"), a combination of de- ("down") and clivus ("slope, hill"). Clivus is akin to the Latin verb clinare ("to incline").

The word was adopted into English in the 17th century with two meanings: a downward inclination, as of a hill (1612) and a descending slope itself (1695).

Descent
Descent entered Middle English in the 14th century from Middle French descente, from the Old French verb descendre ("to descend").

In English, the noun developed various senses relating to the action of descending.

One such sense was a downward slope (1591).

Down
The Modern English hill-related word down comes from Middle English down (14th century) and doun (14th century), from Old English dun (before 1100). It is akin to Old Irish dun ("hill, hill fortress").

Down has had the following principal meanings: a hill (971, obsolete); an undulating upland (13th century); and a little hill of sand thrown up by the wind on or near a shore, i.e., a sand dune (1523). When the word denotes an undulating upland, it is often used in the plural. A famous range of low hills along the south coast of England is called The Downs.

Downgrade, Downhill
From the simple adjective down come two nouns denoting a descending slope: downgrade (1858) and downhill (1591).

Dun
The English word dun meaning an ancient fortified place in Scotland and Ireland comes from Scottish Gaelic and Irish dun, from Old Irish dun ("hill, hill fortress").

A dun was a fortified residence built on a hill, typically surrounded by circular earthen mounds and a deep moat.

The word was frequently used in place-names, as in Scotland's Dunbarton or Dumbarton ("the dun of the Britons").

Dune
The English word dune goes back through French and Old French to Middle Dutch. It is akin to Old English dun ("down").

A dune is a hill or ridge of sand piled up by the wind (1790).
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004. CD-ROM. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2004.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2006.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2007.

The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1989.