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).
To come from an ancestor or ancestry: He was descended from a pioneer family.
To come down from a source; derive: a tradition descending from colonial days.
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.
To move from a higher to a lower part of; go down.
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.
[di-sen-duh-buh
l] 