condescend

[kon-duh-send]

verb (used without object)

to behave as if one is conscious of descending from a superior position, rank, or dignity.

to stoop or deign to do something: He would not condescend to misrepresent the facts.

to put aside one's dignity or superiority voluntarily and assume equality with one regarded as inferior: He condescended to their intellectual level in order to be understood.

Obsolete.

to yield.
to assent.

Origin of condescend

1300–50; Middle English condescenden < Late Latin condēscendere (see con-, descend); replacing Middle English condescendre < Middle French

Related formscon·des·cend·er, con·des·cend·ent, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for condescendent

condescend

verb (intr)

to act graciously towards another or others regarded as being on a lower level; behave patronizingly

to do something that one regards as below one's dignity

Word Origin for condescend

C14: from Church Latin condēscendere to stoop, condescend, from Latin dēscendere to descend

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 condescendent

condescend

adj.

mid-14c., "to yield deferentially," from Old French condescendere (14c.) "to agree, consent, give in, yield," from Late Latin condescendere "to let oneself down," from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + descendere "descend" (see descend). Sense of "to sink willingly to equal terms with inferiors" is from mid-15c.