ascend

American  

[uh-send] / əˈsɛnd /

verb (used without object)

1. to move, climb, or go upward; mount; rise.

   The airplane ascended into the clouds.

   Synonyms:

   soar

   Antonyms:

   descend

2. to slant upward.

3. to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level.

   to ascend to the presidency.

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

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

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verb (used with object)

1. to go or move upward upon or along; climb; mount.

   to ascend a lookout tower;

   to ascend stairs.

   Antonyms:

   descend

2. to gain or succeed to; acquire.

   to ascend the throne.

ascend British  

/ əˈsɛnd /

verb

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

2. (intr) to slope or incline upwards

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

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

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

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

7. to become king or queen

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Related Words

See climb.

Other Word Forms

• ascendable
  adjective
• ascendible
  adjective
• reascend
  verb
• unascendable
  adjective
• unascended
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ascend

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”

Explanation

To ascend is to move or travel upwards. You can do this literally, like when you ascend to 35,000 feet after your plane takes off, or figuratively, like when you win the lottery and ascend to a higher social class. Riding the escalators in the department store is one way to amuse yourself while your parents shop. You can ascend all the way to the 8th floor, and then descend back to the ground floor. Both ascend and descend come from the Latin verb scandere, which means "to climb." It's the prefixes that make all the difference. The a- of ascend makes the word mean "climb up," while the de- of its antonym makes descend mean "climb down."

Example Sentences

Participants also reported how many flights of stairs they climbed daily, based on the estimate that each flight takes 8 seconds to ascend.

From Science Daily • Apr. 27, 2026

"After recording several takes of this work... she quietly turned to me and said, 'This one is good. I would like to have this one played when I ascend into heaven'."

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

The hero goes to his death at the point of self-realization that only in sacrifice may he ascend to and become a symbol for glory.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

He was also the youngest man to ascend to the world number one ranking.

From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026

There was laughter, and another exchange of good nights before I was at last allowed to ascend to the sanctuary of this room.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Related Words

• climb
• escalate
• move up
• soar
• take off