ascendant

American  

[uh-sen-duhnt] / əˈsɛn dənt /

Or ascendent

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.

3. 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.

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adjective

1. ascending; rising.

2. superior; predominant.

3. Botany. directed or curved upward.

ascendant British  

/ əˈsɛndənt /

adjective

1. proceeding upwards; rising

2. dominant, superior, or influential

3. botany another term for ascending

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noun

1. rare an ancestor

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

3. astrology (sometimes capital)

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

   2. the sign of the zodiac containing this point

4. increasing in influence, prosperity, etc

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonascendantly
  adverb
• unascendent
  adjective
• nonascendent
  adjective
• nonascendant
  adjective
• nonascendently
  adverb
• unascendant
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ascendant

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

Explanation

Something that's ascendant is increasing its power or status. An ascendant political party is one that captures more and more seats in Congress with every election. Things are ascendant when they're growing in importance. It's common to use this adjective to describe people or groups that have already achieved a lot of power and whose influence continues to grow. Ascendant was originally a term in astronomy, although today it's used in astrology to mean the sign of the Zodiac rising in the east when someone's born. The Latin root is ascendere, "to go up," but also figuratively "to rise," or "to reach."

Related Words

• predominant