The Wordsmith Dictionary

De *scend ", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descended; p. pr. & vb. n.Descending. ] Etym: [F. descendre, L. descendere, descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan. ]

1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc. ; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend. The rain descended, and the floods came. Matt. vii. 25.We will here descend to matters of later date. Fuller.

2. To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic ] [He ] with holiest meditations fed, Into himself descended. Milton.

3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon. And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. Pope.

4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.

5. To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.

6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.

7. (Anat. )

Defn: To move toward the south, or to the southward.

8. (Mus. )

Defn: To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.

DESCEND

DESCEND De *scend ", v. t.

Defn: To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder. But never tears his cheek descended. Byron.

DESCENDANT

De *scend "ant, a. Etym: [F. descendant, p. pr. of descendre. Cf. Descendent. ]

Defn: Descendent.

DESCENDANT

DESCENDANT De *scend "ant, n.

Defn: One who descends, as offspring, however remotely; -- correlative to ancestor or ascendant. Our first parents and their descendants. Hale. The descendant of so many kings and emperors. Burke.

DESCENDENT

De *scend "ent, a. Etym: [L. descendens, -entis, p. pr. of descendre. Cf. Descendant. ]

Defn: Descending; falling; proceeding from an ancestor or source. More than mortal grace Speaks thee descendent of ethereal race. Pope.

DESCENDER

DESCENDER De *scend "er, n.

Defn: One who descends.

DESCENDIBILITY

DESCENDIBILITY De *scend `i *bil "i *ty, n.

Defn: The quality of being descendible; capability of being transmitted from ancestors; as, the descendibility of an estate.

DESCENDIBLE

DESCENDIBLE De *scend "i *ble, a.

1. Admitting descent; capable of being descended.

2. That may descend from an ancestor to an heir. "A descendant estate. " Sir W. Jones.

DESCENDING

DESCENDING De *scend "ing, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to descent; moving downwards. Descending constellations or signs (Astron.), those through which the planets descent toward the south. -- Descending node (Astron.), that point in a planet's orbit where it intersects the ecliptic in passing southward. -- Descending series (Math. ), a series in which each term is numerically smaller than the preceding one; also, a series arranged according to descending powers of a quantity.

DESCENDINGLY

DESCENDINGLY De *scend "ing *ly, adv.

Defn: In a descending manner.

New American Oxford Dictionary

descend

de scend |diˈsend dəˈsɛnd | ▶verb [ no obj. ] 1 move or fall downward: the aircraft began to descend. • [ with obj. ] move down (a slope or stairs ): the vehicle descended a ramp. • (of stairs, a road or path, or a piece of land ) be on a slope or incline and extend downward: a side road descended into the forest | [ with obj. ] : a narrow flight of stairs descended a steep slope. • come or go down a scale, esp. from the superior to the inferior: (as adj. descending ) : the categories are listed in descending order of usefulness. • Music (of sound ) become lower in pitch: (as adj. descending ) : a passage of descending chords. • (descend to ) act in a specified shameful way that is far below one's usual standards: she descended to self-pity. • (descend into ) (of a situation or group of people ) reach (a state considered undesirable or shameful ): the army had descended into chaos. 2 (descend on /upon ) make a sudden attack on: the militia descended on Rye. • make an unexpected and typically unwelcome visit to: treasure-seekers descended upon the site. • (of a feeling or atmosphere ) develop suddenly and be felt throughout a place or by a person or group of people: an air of gloom descended on the Democratic Party headquarters. • (of night or darkness ) begin to occur: as the winter darkness descended, the fighting ceased. 3 (be descended from ) be a direct blood relative of (a specified, typically illustrious ancestor ): she is descended from Charles II. • (of an asset ) pass by inheritance, typically from parent to child: his lands descended to his eldest son. ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French descendre, from Latin descendere, from de- ‘down ’ + scandere ‘to climb. ’

descendant

de scend ant |diˈsendənt dəˈsɛndənt | ▶noun a person, plant, or animal that is descended from a particular ancestor: Shakespeare's last direct descendant. • a machine, artifact, system, etc. , that has developed from an earlier, more rudimentary version. ORIGIN late Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘descending ’): from French, present participle of descendre ‘to descend ’ (see descend ). The noun dates from the early 17th cent. usage: The correct spelling for the noun meaning ‘person descended from a particular ancestor ’ is descendant, ending with the suffix -ant, not -ent (as in she claims to be a descendant of Paul Revere ). The word descendent is an adjective, now used almost exlusively in scientific contexts, meaning ‘descending from an ancestor ’ (as in extinct species are replaced by descendent species ). Almost 15 percent of the citations for the noun in the Oxford English Corpus use the wrong spelling.

descendent

de scend ent |diˈsendənt dəˈsɛndənt | ▶adjective descending from an ancestor: a peculiar genealogy that buds off numerous descendent species | figurative : descendent theories. usage: On the difference between descendent and descendant, see usage at descendant .

descender

de scend er |diˈsendər dəˈsɛndər | ▶noun a part of a letter that extends below the level of the base of a letter such as x (as in g and p ). • a letter having such a part.

descendeur

de scen deur |diˈsendər dɪˈsɛndər | ▶noun Climbing a piece of metal around which a rope is passed and which makes use of friction to slow descent during rappelling. ORIGIN late 20th cent.: French, literally ‘descender. ’

descendible

de scend i ble |diˈsendəbəl dəˈsɛndəbəl | ▶adjective Law (of property ) able to be inherited by a descendant.

descending colon

de scend ing co lon ▶noun Anatomy the part of the large intestine that passes downward on the left side of the abdomen toward the rectum.

Oxford Dictionary

descend

des |cend |dɪˈsɛnd | ▶verb [ no obj. ] 1 move or fall downwards: the aircraft began to descend. • [ with obj. ] move down (a slope or stairs ): the vehicle descended a ramp. • (of a road, path, or flight of steps ) slope or lead downwards: a side road descended into the forest | [ with obj. ] : a flight of stairs descended a steep slope. • move down a scale of quality: (as adj. descending ) : the categories are listed in descending order of usefulness. • Music (of sound ) become lower in pitch: (as adj. descending ) : a passage of descending chords. • (descend to ) act in a shameful way that is far below one's usual standards: he was scrupulous in refusing to descend to misrepresentation. • (descend into ) (of a situation or group of people ) reach (an undesirable state ): the army had descended into chaos. 2 (descend on /upon ) make a sudden attack on: the militia descended on Rye. • (descend on /upon ) make an unexpected visit to: groups of visiting supporters descended on a local pub. • (of a feeling ) develop suddenly and affect a place or person: an air of gloom descended on Labour Party headquarters. • (of night or darkness ) begin to occur: as the winter darkness descended, the fighting ceased. 3 (be descended from ) be a blood relative of (a specified ancestor ): John Dalrymple was descended from an ancient Ayrshire family. • (of an asset ) pass by inheritance, typically from parent to child: his lands descended to his eldest son. DERIVATIVES descendent adjective ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French descendre, from Latin descendere, from de- ‘down ’ + scandere ‘to climb ’.

descendant

des ¦cend |ant |dɪˈsɛnd (ə )nt | ▶noun a person, plant, or animal that is descended from a particular ancestor: she's a descendant of Charles Darwin. • a machine, artefact, system, etc. , that has developed from an earlier, more rudimentary version: house music is a descendant of disco. ORIGIN late Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘descending ’): from French, present participle of descendre ‘to descend ’ (see descend ). The noun dates from the early 17th cent. usage: The correct spelling for the noun meaning ‘person descended from a particular ancestor ’ is descendant, not -ent. Descendent is a less common adjective meaning ‘descending from an ancestor ’. Almost 15 per cent of the citations for the term in the Oxford English Corpus use the wrong spelling.

descender

des |cend ¦er |dɪˈsɛndə | ▶noun a part of a letter that extends below the level of the base of a letter such as x (as in g and p ). • a letter having a descender.

descendeur

descendeur |dɪˈsɛndə | ▶noun Climbing a piece of metal around which a rope is passed, which makes use of friction to slow descent during abseiling. ORIGIN late 20th cent.: from French, literally ‘descender ’.

descendible

des ¦cend |ible |dɪˈsɛndɪb (ə )l | ▶adjective Law (of property ) eligible to be inherited by a descendant.

descending colon

des ¦cend |ing colon ▶noun Anatomy the part of the large intestine which passes downwards on the left side of the abdomen towards the rectum.

American Oxford Thesaurus

descend

descend verb 1 the plane started descending: go down, come down; drop, fall, sink, dive, plummet, plunge, nosedive. ANTONYMS ascend, climb. 2 she descended the stairs: climb down, go down, come down. ANTONYMS ascend, climb. 3 the road descends to a village: slope, dip, slant, go down, fall away. 4 she saw Herb descend from the bus: alight from, disembark, get down from, get off, dismount. ANTONYMS climb aboard, board. 5 they would not descend to such mean tricks: stoop, lower oneself, demean oneself, debase oneself; resort, be reduced. 6 the army descended into chaos: degenerate, deteriorate, decline, sink, slide, fall. 7 they descended on the fortress: come in force on /upon, arrive in hordes on; attack, assail, assault, storm, invade, swoop (down ) on, charge. 8 he is descended from a Flemish family: be a descendant of, originate from, issue from, spring from, derive from. 9 his estates descended to his son: be handed down, be passed down; be inherited by.

descendant

descendant noun Leslie claims to be a descendant of Benjamin Franklin | the legacy left to her descendants: successor, scion; heir; (descendants ) offspring, progeny, family, lineage; Law issue; archaic seed, fruit of one's loins. ANTONYMS ancestor.

Oxford Thesaurus

descend

descend verb 1 the plane started descending towards the runway: go down, come down; drop, fall, sink, subside; dive, plummet, plunge, nosedive, pitch, tumble, slump. ANTONYMS ascend, climb. 2 she descended the stairs: climb down, go down, come down, move down, pass down, walk down; shin down. ANTONYMS ascend, climb. 3 the road descends to a village situated on the shore: slope, dip, slant, decline, go down, sink, fall away. 4 she saw Leo descend from the local bus: alight, disembark, get down; get off, dismount; detrain, deplane, debus; informal pile out. ANTONYMS board. 5 if they had right on their side they would not need to descend to such mean tricks: condescend, stoop, lower oneself, abase oneself, humble oneself, demean oneself, debase oneself, deign; resort, be reduced, go as far as; informal come down from one's high horse. 6 the army had descended into chaos: degenerate, deteriorate, decline, sink, slide, fall, drop; go downhill, decay, worsen, get /grow worse, take a turn for the worse, go to rack and ruin; informal go to pot, go to the dogs, go to seed, hit the skids, go down the tubes, go down the toilet. ANTONYMS improve. 7 groups of visiting supporters descended on a local pub: come in force, arrive in hordes, attack, assail, assault, storm, invade, pounce on, raid, swoop on, charge. 8 he is descended from a Flemish family: be a descendant of, originate from, issue from, spring from, have as an ancestor, derive from. 9 his estates descended to his son: be handed down, be passed down, pass by heredity, be transferred by inheritance; be inherited by. ANTONYMS bequeath to.

descendant

descendant noun a descendant of Charles Darwin: successor, scion; offshoot, heir; (descendants ) offspring, progeny, issue, family, lineage, line; archaic posterity, seed, fruit, fruit of someone's loins. ANTONYMS ancestor.

French Dictionary

descendance

descendance n. f. nom féminin Ensemble des descendants. : Les premiers colons de la Nouvelle-France ont eu une nombreuse descendance. SYNONYME lignée . Note Sémantique Ne pas confondre avec le nom ascendance, ensemble des parents dont est issue une personne. Note Orthographique de scen dance.

descendant

descendant , ante adj. et n. m. et f. adjectif Qui descend. : La marée descendante. nom masculin et féminin Personne issue d ’un ancêtre. : Ce sont des descendants du premier colon, Louis Hébert. ANTONYME ascendant . Note Orthographique de scen dant.

descendre

descendre v. tr. , intr. verbe transitif 1 Parcourir de haut en bas. : Martin descend l ’escalier trop vite. ANTONYME monter . 2 Déplacer vers le bas. : Il a descendu un livre de sa bibliothèque. 3 familier Abattre. : Les rebelles ont descendu un avion. Note Grammaticale À la forme transitive, le verbe se conjugue avec l ’auxiliaire avoir ; à la forme intransitive, il se conjugue avec l ’auxiliaire être. verbe intransitif 1 Aller de haut en bas. : Elle descendra par l ’escalier. ANTONYME monter . 2 Baisser de niveau. : La mer commence à descendre, c ’est la marée basse. Les prix ont descendu. ANTONYME monter . 3 Tirer son origine de, être issu de. : Ils descendent d ’une grande famille italienne. SYNONYME venir . 4 Séjourner. : Il descend toujours dans ce petit hôtel. FORME FAUTIVE descendre en bas. Pléonasme pour descendre. fendre INDICATIF PRÉSENT Je descends, tu descends, il descend, nous descendons, vous descendez, ils descendent. IMPARFAIT Je descendais. PASSÉ SIMPLE Je descendis. FUTUR Je descendrai. CONDITIONNEL PRÉSENT Je descendrais. IMPÉRATIF PRÉSENT Descends, descendons, descendez. SUBJONCTIF PRÉSENT Que je descende. IMPARFAIT Que je descendisse. PARTICIPE PRÉSENT Descendant. PASSÉ Descendu, ue.Note Orthographique de scen dre.

Spanish Dictionary

descendencia

descendencia nombre femenino Conjunto de individuos (persona, animal ) que descienden de otro :tuvo una prolífica descendencia; en el año 1700 moría sin descendencia el rey de España Carlos II; en el zoo hay tres hembras y un macho de jirafa, pero varios abortos seguidos les han impedido tener descendencia .

descendente

descendente adjetivo Que desciende :el trepador para poder trepar por los árboles, tanto en sentido ascendente como descendente, coloca una pata sobre la otra; su escritura era pequeña, temblorosa y descendente; la Bolsa presenta una evolución descendente .ANTÓNIMO ascendente . VÉASE nodo descendente; savia descendente .

descender

descender verbo intransitivo 1 Ir de un lugar alto a otro más bajo :el sol estaba descendiendo y los árboles eran ya oscuras manchas de color; el caballo se había ido acercando a la cerca de la finca, descendiendo desde el punto más alto del encinar; para llegar hasta allí hay que dejar a la izquierda una desviación y continuar descendiendo en dirección al caserío .ANTÓNIMO ascender .2 Pasar de una categoría o posición a otra inferior :los dos últimos equipos descenderán de categoría .3 Proceder, por generaciones sucesivas, de una persona o linaje :desciende de Eneas; la población americana desciende de indígenas y europeos .4 Disminuir [el nivel de una cosa, en especial de una corriente de agua ].5 Derivarse o proceder [una cosa ] de otra :también descienden del arameo alfabetos de otras lenguas no semíticas, como el persa medio; el arte de los trovadores desciende directamente de los grandes monasterios benedictinos franceses .6 verbo intransitivo /verbo transitivo Hacerse más pequeño [el valor o la cuantía de una cosa ]:la inflación descenderá el próximo año; descender los precios; el volumen total de ventas descendió apreciablemente en los últimos meses; descender las temperaturas; la natalidad ha ido descendiendo en estos últimos años .7 verbo transitivo Poner algo en un lugar más bajo :tuvieron que descender al herido en brazos .SINÓNIMO bajar .ETIMOLOGÍA Préstamo (s. xiii ) del latín descendere, derivado de scandere ‘subir ’, ‘escalar ’. A la misma familia etimológica latina pertenecen ascender , ascensor , condescender y trascender . Conjugación [28 ] como entender .

descendiente

descendiente nombre común Individuo (persona, animal ) que desciende de otro :es descendiente de italianos; los sefarditas son descendientes de los judíos expulsados de la Península Ibérica en el siglo xv por los Reyes Católicos; las aves son descendientes de los dinosaurios .

descendimiento

descendimiento nombre masculino Acción de descender o bajar a alguien de un lugar :"El descendimiento de la cruz " de Juan de Juni .

Sanseido Wisdom Dictionary

descend

de scend /dɪsénd /〖de (下へ ) scend (登る )〗(名 )descendant, (名 )descent 動詞～s /-dz /; ～ed /-ɪd /; ～ing 自動詞 1 ｟かたく｠a. «…から /…へ » 降りる , 下る ; 〈飛行機などが〉下降する (｟よりくだけて｠go [come ] down ) «from /to, into, onto » (↔ascend )▸ descend from a hill [a tree ]丘 [木 ]から降りる ▸ descend to the bottom of the canyon 峡谷の底まで降りる b. 〈丘道などが〉 «…へ » (下に )傾斜する, 下り坂になる «to » (↔ascend )▸ The road descends steeply .道路は急な下り坂になっている 2 ｟文｠〈暗やみ夜雰囲気などが〉【人物に】訪れる, たれ込める (fall ) «on , upon, over » ▸ An awkward silence descended on [over ] us .私たちの間に気まずい沈黙が流れた 3 ｟かたく｠〈状況などが〉【悪い状態に】陥る , (次第に )なる «into » (!受け身にしない ) ▸ The antiwar protest descended into chaos .反戦デモは大混乱に陥った 4 ｟かたく｠〈物事が〉 «…に » 由来する; 〈財産性質などが〉【祖先から /子孫へ】伝わる, 遺伝する «from /to » ▸ the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs 鳥は恐竜から進化したという説 5 ｟非難して /おどけて｠〈人が〉 «…まで /…するまで » 落ちぶれる, 身を落とす «to /to do ing » ; 〈価値程度などが〉低下する ▸ We were surprised that Bob descended to cheating .ボブが詐欺をやるまでになったとは驚いた ▸ descend to A's level A 〈人〉と同じ次元まで下がる 6 〈人が〉【総論から /各論へ】話を進める «from /to » .7 〈数が〉 (だんだん )少なくなる .8 〘天〙〈星太陽などが〉地平線の方へ動く ; 〘楽〙〈音階が〉下降する ; 〘印〙〈活字が〉行線より下に出る .他動詞 1 ｟かたく｠〈階段など〉を降りる, 下る ; 〈道などが〉〈丘など〉を下っている .2 〖be ～ed 〗〈人が〉 «…の » 子孫である ; 〈物事が〉 «…に » 由来する «from » ▸ Richard is descended from a family of kings .リチャードは王家の血を引いている desc é nd on [upon ] A ｟時におどけて｠1 〈大勢の人が〉A 〈人場所〉に押しかける ▸ Hundreds of protesters descended on the office .何百もの抗議者が事務所を訪れた 2 〈人虫などが〉A 〈人など〉に飛びかかる, 襲いかかる .3 ↑自動詞 2 .

descendant

de scend ant /dɪsénd (ə )nt /→descend 名詞複～s /-ts /C 1 〖通例～s; one's ～〗(人生物の )子孫 , 後裔（こうえい）(↔ancestor )▸ a remote [direct ] descendant of the Vikings バイキングの遠い [直系の ]子孫 2 〖通例～ of A 〗Aの後継機 (種 ), 後継のもの ▸ This is a descendant of that bestselling PC .これはあのベストセラーパソコンの後継機だ形容詞｟主に英｠＝descendent .

descendent

de scen dent /dɪsénd (ə )nt /形容詞 1 下降する (↔ascendent ).2 (先祖 )伝来の ; 世襲の .3 «…から » 派生した «from » .

descending

de sc é nd ing 形容詞〖名詞の前で〗下がってゆく, 下降的な (↔ascending )▸ in descending order (数値レベルなどが )上から下の順序で, 降順で