noun

• A rolling down.
• A descent, especially one that passes through a series of revolutions, or by succession
• The transference of a right to a successor, or of a power from one body to another.
• (derogatory) Degeneration (as opposed to evolution).
• (government) The transfer of some powers and the delegation of some functions from a central government to local government (e.g. from the U.K. parliament to Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly).