ascent

American  

[uh-sent] / əˈsɛnt /

noun

• ascents
  plural

1. an act of ascending; upward movement; a rising movement.

   the ascent of a balloon.

2. movement upward from a lower to a higher state, degree, grade, or status; advancement.

   His ascent to the governorship came after a long political career.

3. the act of climbing or traveling up.

   Three climbers attempted the ascent of Mount Rainier.

4. the way or means of ascending; upward slope; acclivity.

5. a movement or return toward a source or beginning.

6. the degree of inclination; gradient.

   a steep ascent.

---

ascent British  

/ əˈsɛnt /

noun

1. the act of ascending; climb or upward movement

   the ascent of hot gases

2. an upward slope; incline or gradient

3. movement back through time, as in tracing of earlier generations (esp in the phrase line of ascent )

---

Usage

What's the difference between ascent and assent? Ascent is a noun that means the act of moving upward (ascending), an upward movement, or upward movement in general. Assent can be a noun meaning agreement, as in I give my assent, or a verb meaning to agree or give in, as in I assent to your terms. The two words are pronounced exactly the same. Perhaps the best way to remember the difference between the two is to think about what related words mean and how they’re spelled. Words related to ascent involve movement and are spelled with sc, including ascend, ascension, descent, descend, and transcend. Words related to assent involve agreement or disagreement and end with -sent, including consent and dissent. Here’s an example of ascent and assent used correctly in a sentence. Example: I asked him if he really wanted to climb the mountain, he gave his assent, and we began our ascent. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between ascent and assent.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reascent
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ascents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ascent

1590–1600; derivative of ascend, on the model of descent

Explanation

If you are moving in an upward direction, that's an ascent, like your quick ascent from new group member last year to president this year. An ascent, which comes from the Latin word ascendere, meaning "to climb up," is just that: a climb. An ascent can be physical, like an elevator's journey to the top floor, an airplane's upward motion, or your hike up a mountain. Ascent can also be a figurative climb, like a restaurant's dishwasher's whose hard work made his ascent to executive chef possible.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ascent ascents

He said the series was on a "giddy ascent" ahead of the Emmys.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

SpaceX has also said the primary goal for Starship’s Super Heavy booster is to execute a successful launch, ascent and stage separation, followed by a boostback burn and landing burn in the Gulf of Mexico.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

By determining where magma begins its ascent, how quickly it moves and which gases are driving that movement, researchers may be able to build more realistic models of how dangerous eruptions unfold.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

In her small-by-C-suite-standards office on Microsoft’s corporate campus, the 38-year-old mother of three said that philosophy has guided her astonishingly rapid ascent through the leadership of companies like Meta Platforms and Instacart.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

None of the boys had ever ridden an elevator more than a few floors in a hotel, and the rapid ascent both thrilled and frightened them.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Tadej Pogacar won nearly every bike race he entered, and he appeared to do it with ease, conquering rivals and Alpine ascents and eliding the perpetual danger of a perilous sport.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

When funds go from first to worst, many people attracted at the latter stages of those ascents bail out and actually lose money.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

It tunneled 435 feet through the mountains for slightly easier descents and ascents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Broad Peak is the world's 12th highest mountain, located in the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan, and is regarded as one of the toughest and most technical climbs of all the 8,000 metre-plus ascents.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

I’ve watched ascents attempted, listened to stories spun.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

Related Words

• ascendance
• ascension
• climb