ascendant

or as·cend·ent

[ uh-sen-duhnt ]
See synonyms for ascendant on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a position of dominance or controlling influence: possession of power, superiority, or preeminence: With his rivals in the ascendant, he soon lost his position.

  2. an ancestor; forebear.

  1. Astrology. the point of the ecliptic or the sign and degree of the zodiac rising above the eastern horizon at the time of a birth or event: the cusp of the first house.

adjective
  1. ascending; rising.

  2. superior; predominant.

  1. Botany. directed or curved upward.

Origin of ascendant

1
1350–1400; Middle English ascendent<Latin ascendent- (stem of ascendēns) climbing up. See ascend, -ent, -ant

Other words from ascendant

  • non·as·cend·ant, adjective
  • non·as·cend·ant·ly, adverb
  • non·as·cend·ent, adjective
  • non·as·cend·ent·ly, adverb
  • un·as·cend·ant, adjective
  • un·as·cend·ent, adjective

Words Nearby ascendant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ascendant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ascendant

ascendant

ascendent

/ (əˈsɛndənt) /


adjective
  1. proceeding upwards; rising

  2. dominant, superior, or influential

  1. botany another term for ascending

noun
  1. rare an ancestor

  2. a position or condition of dominance, superiority or control

  1. astrology (sometimes capital)

    • a point on the ecliptic that rises on the eastern horizon at a particular moment and changes as the earth rotates on its axis

    • the sign of the zodiac containing this point

  2. in the ascendant increasing in influence, prosperity, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012