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ascendant

or as·cend·ent

[uh-sen-duh nt]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ascendant ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a position of dominance or controlling influence: possession of power, superiority, or preeminence: With his rivals in the ascendant, he soon lost his position.
an ancestor; forebear.
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.

adjective

ascending; rising.
superior; predominant.
Botany. directed or curved upward.

RELATED WORDS

predominant, superior, dominant, antecedent, forefather, parent, predecessor, progenitor, father, mother, forbear, foremother, commanding, controlling, prevailing, supreme, predominating, surpassing

Nearby words

  1. ascaris,
  2. ascaris lumbricoides,
  3. ascend,
  4. ascendance,
  5. ascendancy,
  6. ascendency,
  7. ascender,
  8. ascendeur,
  9. ascending,
  10. ascending artery

Origin of ascendant

1350–1400; Middle English ascendent < Latin ascendent- (stem of ascendēns) climbing up. See ascend, -ent, -ant
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ascendent

British Dictionary definitions for ascendent

ascendant

ascendent

adjective

proceeding upwards; rising
dominant, superior, or influential
botany another term for ascending

noun

rare an ancestor
a position or condition of dominance, superiority or control
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
in the ascendant increasing in influence, prosperity, etc
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
Word Origin and History for ascendent

ascendant

adj.

late 14c., ascendent, astrological use is earliest, from Middle French ascendant (noun and adjective) and directly from Latin ascendentem (nominative ascendans), present participle of ascendere "to mount, ascend, go up" (see ascend). Sense "moving upward, rising" is recorded from 1590s. In the ascendant "ruling, dominant" (not, as is often thought, "rising") is from 1670s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper