Synonyms

descend

American

[dih-send] / dɪˈsɛnd /

verb (used without object)

to go or pass from a higher to a lower place; move or come down.

to descend from the mountaintop.
to pass from higher to lower in any scale or series.
to go from generals to particulars, as in a discussion.
to slope, tend, or lead downward.

The path descends to the pond.
to be inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family.

The title descends through eldest sons.
to have a specific person or family among one's ancestors (usually followed byfrom ).

He is descended from Cromwell.
to be derived from something remote in time, especially through continuous transmission.

This festival descends from a druidic rite.
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.
to settle, as a cloud or vapor.
to appear or become manifest, as a supernatural being, state of mind, etc..

Jupiter descended to humankind.
to attack, especially with violence and suddenness (usually followed by on orupon ).

to descend upon enemy soldiers.
to sink or come down from a certain intellectual, moral, or social standard.

He would never descend to baseness.
Astronomy. to move toward the horizon, as the sun or a star.

verb (used with object)

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

The path descends the hill.

descend British

/ dɪˈsɛnd /

verb

(also tr) to move, pass, or go down (a hill, slope, staircase, etc)
(of a hill, slope, or path) to lead or extend down; slope; incline
to move to a lower level, pitch, etc; fall
(often foll by from) to be connected by a blood relationship (to a dead or extinct individual, race, species, etc)
to be passed on by parents or ancestors; be inherited
to sink or come down in morals or behaviour; lower oneself
to arrive or attack in a sudden or overwhelming way

their relatives descended upon them last week
(of the sun, moon, etc) to move towards the horizon

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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”; cf. scansion

Explanation

In its simplest sense, descend means to go or move downward, but there are a couple of subtle variations on this theme. Yes, a bird can descend from the sky, but also, humans are descended from prehistoric ancestors. If you've ever heard a pilot say "prepare for our descent", then you know that only one letter separates the noun descent from the verb descend. They both derive from the same Latin components de, meaning "down," and scandere, "to climb." Similarly, if someone condescends to you, they are said, derogatorily, to be coming down to your level. All Americans are descended from peoples from other continents, such as Europe, Africa, and Asia. We've all "come down" from our ancestors.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing descend

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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.

See Examples For:

descend descends descended descending

Seen against that history, her arguments no longer seem to descend from the altitude of solitary thought.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The research found that tiny sinking particles known as marine snow release dissolved carbon and nitrogen as they descend into the deep sea.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

They’re expecting about 100 friends and family members to descend on their Rancho Cucamonga home, just as they did last year to watch the Brewers select Brady with the No. 32 overall pick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Vloklinec doesn't have adequate access roads, parking areas or public toilets needed to cater for the crowds that descend on it.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

At the centre top there is a representation of Papin’s piston powered by the pressure of the atmosphere: once the steam has condensed, removal of the pin labelled E causes the piston to descend.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Island arcs, chains of volcanoes that develop above subduction zones where one oceanic plate descends beneath another, are often unusually rich in gold.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

As firefighters in southwest France struggle to bring a forest inferno under control before yet another heatwave descends on the country, Filippi told AFP about the phenomenon.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

"For the work that I can do, I can engage with people in serious debate, detailed debate, respectful debate, without being on a platform that constantly descends to racism and misogyny."

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

But now, as the entire soccer world descends on the U.S.,

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

I sink to the floor, and she descends with me.

From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper

The rescue teams from across the globe that descended upon this strip of coast are long gone, as is international attention to the plight of La Guaira.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Autopilot was disengaged, the pilots declared an emergency and descended immediately as passenger oxygen masks dropped, according to the report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Rumoured to be descended from Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu was born in the central city of Changsha in 1928 into a China riven by civil war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Its appearance bears little obvious resemblance to the spiders and scorpions that descended from its broader evolutionary lineage.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

A puffin who had descended from a long line of military heroes could not be expected to perform manual labor.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Bordeaux was bathed in sunshine on the afternoon of Saturday, 11 June, tens of thousands of Welsh supporters descending on the French city for their opening game against Slovakia.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Now, with a heat wave descending over much of Southern California, residents worry the odor could get even worse and scores of residents have called air quality regulators to complain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

A dissection is when a tear occurs in the aorta’s inner lining, either in the ascending aorta or the descending one.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

Their theory was that the descending column of water acted somewhat like a syringe, pushing air through the shaft as it fell.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026

They called and squawked and swirled in great clouds before descending on the ruined village, chirping and fussing and circling near.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023