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.

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Vocabulary lists containing descend

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How Low Can You Go? Synonyms for "Downward"

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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

Free cash flow, which exceeded $12 billion in the first quarter, dwindled to less than $784 million, although it didn’t descend into negative territory as analysts had forecast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Every koala alive today appears to descend from a single ancestral population that endured dramatic environmental shifts, including intense glacial periods.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 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

When England descend from altitude, touch down back at Heathrow and face Fiji in Liverpool, they will need to show they can overcome those at a lower level.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Now he would have to use his climbing rope to descend quickly to the road.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

It simply descends as you travel west from Bordeaux along empty roads and through deserted villages.

From BBC ● 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

After dark, it descends more than 50 centimeters and creates an anchor point on a leaf, branch, or the forest floor.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

A blood-red tree descends, its skeletal branches and ropy roots suggesting veins and arteries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

She descends the steps, and I start to unpack my books onto the quiet-room desk to get ready for the trig homework I’ve been avoiding all day.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

Their goal was to distinguish cells descended from the original population of microglia that had been present since birth from cells descended from blood stem cells in the bone marrow later in life.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 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

He is descended from Sephardic Jews who came to Britain from Tuscany in the 1790s and from Mizrahi Jews who arrived from Morocco in the 1820s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Domenico Pianese, the Secretary-General of the police union, criticised Lepore's decision to call for a demonstration that later descended into chaos.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

The Russians and the Americans ran to the base of the ladder as the policeman descended with his discovery: “Two dead flies!”

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Trump then flew to the UK en route to the US, where he reboarded the old Air Force One and was seen descending from the aircraft after it landed at RAF Mildenhall.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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

Hundreds of humanitarian responders from at least 16 countries were descending on the quake-stricken nation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Only a winged creature could reach it, so steep and slimy were the rocks on all sides, and so fearful the onrush of the descending waters.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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