descend
Americanverb (used without object)
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descends,
present (3rd person singular)
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descended,
past participle, past
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descending
present participle
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to go or pass from a higher to a lower place; move or come down.
to descend from the mountaintop.
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to pass from higher to lower in any scale or series.
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to go from generals to particulars, as in a discussion.
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to slope, tend, or lead downward.
The path descends to the pond.
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to be inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family.
The title descends through eldest sons.
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to have a specific person or family among one's ancestors (usually followed byfrom ).
He is descended from Cromwell.
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to be derived from something remote in time, especially through continuous transmission.
This festival descends from a druidic rite.
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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.
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to settle, as a cloud or vapor.
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to appear or become manifest, as a supernatural being, state of mind, etc..
Jupiter descended to humankind.
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to attack, especially with violence and suddenness (usually followed by on orupon ).
to descend upon enemy soldiers.
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to sink or come down from a certain intellectual, moral, or social standard.
He would never descend to baseness.
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Astronomy. to move toward the horizon, as the sun or a star.
verb (used with object)
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descends,
present (3rd person singular)
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descended,
past participle, past
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descending
present participle
-
to move downward upon or along; go or climb down (stairs, a hill, etc.).
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to extend or lead down along.
The path descends the hill.
verb
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(also tr) to move, pass, or go down (a hill, slope, staircase, etc)
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(of a hill, slope, or path) to lead or extend down; slope; incline
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to move to a lower level, pitch, etc; fall
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(often foll by from) to be connected by a blood relationship (to a dead or extinct individual, race, species, etc)
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to be passed on by parents or ancestors; be inherited
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to sink or come down in morals or behaviour; lower oneself
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to arrive or attack in a sudden or overwhelming way
their relatives descended upon them last week
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(of the sun, moon, etc) to move towards the horizon
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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descendsimple
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descendssimple
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have descendedperfect
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has descendedperfect
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am descendingprogressive
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are descendingprogressive
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is descendingprogressive
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have been descendingperfect progressive
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has been descendingperfect progressive
Past
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descendedsimple
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had descendedperfect
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was descendingprogressive
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were descendingprogressive
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had been descendingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing descend
"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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Word Generation Social Studies - Ancient Civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome
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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:
“Dangerously hot conditions” are expected to descend Friday, when an extreme heat watch goes into effect for the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The angle of the camera begins to descend and Moreno is heard asking “You can’t pull up?” before the video cuts out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Indonesia was first to descend into chaos, as Sukarno and other parties fought over what sort of nation the huge archipelago would become.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Despite being explicitly prevented from blaming any party for a death, hearings can often descend into a blame game, with barristers trying to save or sully an organisation's reputation.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
National dignitaries, social welfare workers, and government investigators descend on the leprosarium after reading A. H. Lacson’s articles.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Each September, a who's who of executives from across Silicon Valley descends on San Francisco's Palace Hotel to charm investors at a conference hosted by the investment bank Goldman Sachs.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
In summer, the area is frequently affected by the Washoe Zephyr, a gusty afternoon wind that descends from the Sierra Nevada mountains in the west, blowing across the high desert basin around Reno.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Island arcs, chains of volcanoes that develop above subduction zones where one oceanic plate descends beneath another, are often unusually rich in gold.
From Science Daily ● 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
Exasperated at being judged a psychological aberration, the apple descends into Flatland.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Footfall also takes a hit, he said, noting that a stormy season has once again descended and fearful customers are canceling their reservations.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Now we are seeing sentiment get very bullish on USO once again, as the put-call ratio has descended to nearly the lowest point on the above chart.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
His characters let us feel the chill in Europe as the Iron Curtain descended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
So the ability to simply buy a jar descended from it feels like an almost comically specific luxury: somebody else has already done the sticky part.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
And the door at the end of the gallery opened, and Mr. Rochester advanced with a candle: he had just descended from the upper storey.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
In late August, on a trip to Kyrgyzstan for a regional summit, a widely shared clip showed him descending an airplane’s stairs slowly and stiffly, gripping the hand of his wife, Peng Liyuan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"After descending through the opening using ropes and calling out to those inside, no response was received," the prime minister's office said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Bordeaux was bathed in sunshine on the afternoon of Saturday, 11 June, tens of thousands of Welsh supporters descending on the French city for their opening game against Slovakia.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Now, with a heat wave descending over much of Southern California, residents worry the odor could get even worse and scores of residents have called air quality regulators to complain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
First, players tried to roll a six, a five, and a four in descending order.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
