ascend

[ uh-send ]
See synonyms for ascend on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
  1. to move, climb, or go upward; mount; rise: The airplane ascended into the clouds.

  2. to slant upward.

  1. to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level: to ascend to the presidency.

  2. to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time.

  3. Music. to rise in pitch; pass from any tone to a higher one.

verb (used with object)
  1. to go or move upward upon or along; climb; mount: to ascend a lookout tower;to ascend stairs.

  2. to gain or succeed to; acquire: to ascend the throne.

Origin of ascend

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ascenden, from Anglo-French ascendre, from Latin ascendere “to climb up,” from a- a-5 + -scendere, combining form of scandere “to climb”

synonym study For ascend

6. See climb.

Other words for ascend

Opposites for ascend

Other words from ascend

  • as·cend·a·ble, as·cend·i·ble, adjective
  • re·as·cend, verb
  • un·as·cend·a·ble, adjective
  • un·as·cend·ed, adjective

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

British Dictionary definitions for ascend

ascend

/ (əˈsɛnd) /


verb
  1. to go or move up (a ladder, hill, slope, etc); mount; climb

  2. (intr) to slope or incline upwards

  1. (intr) to rise to a higher point, level, degree, etc

  2. to follow (a river) upstream towards its source

  3. to trace (a genealogy, etc) back in time

  4. to sing or play (a scale, arpeggio, etc) from the lower to higher notes

  5. ascend the throne to become king or queen

Origin of ascend

1
C14: from Latin ascendere, from scandere

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