descend definition | Dictionary.com

de⋅scend

[di-send]

–verb (used without object)

1.	to go or pass from a higher to a lower place; move or come down: to descend from the mountaintop.

2.	to pass from higher to lower in any scale or series.

3.	to go from generals to particulars, as in a discussion.

4.	to slope, tend, or lead downward: The path descends to the pond.

5.	to be inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family: The title descends through eldest sons.

6.	to have a specific person or family among one's ancestors (usually fol. by from): He is descended from Cromwell.

7.	to be derived from something remote in time, esp. through continuous transmission: This festival descends from a druidic rite.

8.	to approach or pounce upon, esp. in a greedy or hasty manner (fol. by on or upon): Thrill-seekers descended upon the scene of the crime.

9.	to settle, as a cloud or vapor.

10.	to appear or become manifest, as a supernatural being, state of mind, etc.: Jupiter descended to humankind.

11.	to attack, esp. with violence and suddenness (usually fol. by on or upon): to descend upon enemy soldiers.

12.	to sink or come down from a certain intellectual, moral, or social standard: He would never descend to baseness.

13.	Astronomy. to move toward the horizon, as the sun or a star.

–verb (used with object)

14.	to move downward upon or along; go or climb down (stairs, a hill, etc.).

15.	to extend or lead down along: The path descends the hill.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME descenden < OF descendre < L dēscendere, equiv. to dē- de- + -scendere, comb. form of scandere to climb; cf. scansion

Related forms:

de⋅scend⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To descend

de·scend (dĭ-sěnd')

v. de·scend·ed, de·scend·ing, de·scends

v. intr.

To move from a higher to a lower place; come or go down.
To slope, extend, or incline downward: "A rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain" (J.R.R. Tolkien).
1. To come from an ancestor or ancestry: He was descended from a pioneer family.
2. To come down from a source; derive: a tradition descending from colonial days.
3. To pass by inheritance: The house has descended through four generations.
To lower oneself; stoop: "She, the conqueror, had descended to the level of the conquered" (James Bryce).
To proceed or progress downward, as in rank, pitch, or scale: titles listed in descending order of importance; notes that descended to the lower register.
To arrive or attack in a sudden or an overwhelming manner: summer tourists descending on the seashore village.

v. tr.

1. To move from a higher to a lower part of; go down.
2. To get down from: "People descended the minibus that shuttled guests to the nearby . . . beach" (Howard Kaplan).
To extend or proceed downward along: a road that descended the mountain in sharp curves.

[Middle English descenden, from Old French descendre, from Latin dēscendere : dē-, de- + scandere, to climb; see skand- in Indo-European roots.]
de·scend'i·ble, de·scend'a·ble adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Descend

De*scend"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Descended; p. pr. & vb. n. Descending.] [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.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.

8. (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.

Descend

De*scend"\, v. t. 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.

Language Translation for : descend

Spanish: descender, bajar,

German: heruntersteigen,

Japanese: 降りる

More Translations »

descend

c.1300, from O.Fr. descendre, from L. descendere, from de- "down" + scandere "to climb," from PIE base *skand- "jump." Sense of "originate from" is c.1375. Descent is attested from c.1330; descendant "offspring" is from 1600.

Main Entry: de·scend
Pronunciation: di-'send
Function: intransitive verb
: to pass by inheritance —de·scen·di·bil·i·ty /-"sen-d&-'bi-l&-tE/ noun —de·scend·ible /-'sen-d&-b&l/ adjective

Main Entry: de·scend
Pronunciation: di-'send
Function: intransitive verb
: to pass from a higher place or level to a lower one descends into the scrotum between the seventh and ninth month in utero —Therapeutic Notes>

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