descend
Americanverb (used without object)
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to go or pass from a higher to a lower place; move or come down.
to descend from the mountaintop.
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to pass from higher to lower in any scale or series.
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to go from generals to particulars, as in a discussion.
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to slope, tend, or lead downward.
The path descends to the pond.
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to be inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family.
The title descends through eldest sons.
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to have a specific person or family among one's ancestors (usually followed byfrom ).
He is descended from Cromwell.
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to be derived from something remote in time, especially through continuous transmission.
This festival descends from a druidic rite.
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to approach or pounce upon, especially in a greedy or hasty manner (followed by on orupon ).
Thrill-seekers descended upon the scene of the crime.
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to settle, as a cloud or vapor.
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to appear or become manifest, as a supernatural being, state of mind, etc..
Jupiter descended to humankind.
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to attack, especially with violence and suddenness (usually followed by on orupon ).
to descend upon enemy soldiers.
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to sink or come down from a certain intellectual, moral, or social standard.
He would never descend to baseness.
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Astronomy. to move toward the horizon, as the sun or a star.
verb (used with object)
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to move downward upon or along; go or climb down (stairs, a hill, etc.).
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to extend or lead down along.
The path descends the hill.
verb
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(also tr) to move, pass, or go down (a hill, slope, staircase, etc)
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(of a hill, slope, or path) to lead or extend down; slope; incline
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to move to a lower level, pitch, etc; fall
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(often foll by from) to be connected by a blood relationship (to a dead or extinct individual, race, species, etc)
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to be passed on by parents or ancestors; be inherited
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to sink or come down in morals or behaviour; lower oneself
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to arrive or attack in a sudden or overwhelming way
their relatives descended upon them last week
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(of the sun, moon, etc) to move towards the horizon
Other Word Forms
- descendable adjective
- descendingly adverb
- predescend verb
- redescend verb
- undescending adjective
Etymology
Origin of descend
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English descenden, from Old French descendre, from Latin dēscendere, equivalent to dē- de- + -scendere, combining form of scandere “to climb”; scansion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A majority of the population of the modern-day Gaza Strip descended from refugees of the Nakba.
From Salon
Jabs were scarce; instead, the fight descended into clinches from Clarke and heavy leaning from TKV, with lunging, telegraphed punches punctuating the action.
From BBC
García Harfuch descends from a line of prominent government officials, their careers reflecting, in part, Mexico’s past under a repressive, authoritarian government.
From Los Angeles Times
He stood next to the president as he gave his now famous "we are still here" speech as the Russians descended on Kyiv at the start of their full-scale invasion in February 2022.
From BBC
He had enough time to turn off electrical appliances before he descended the stairs from their fourth-floor apartment to safety.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
