descendant
[dih-sen-duh nt]
- a person or animal that is descended from a specific ancestor; an offspring.
- something deriving in appearance, function, or general character from an earlier form.
- an adherent who follows closely the teachings, methods, practices, etc., of an earlier master, as in art, music, philosophy, etc.; disciple.
- Astrology.
- the point opposite the ascendant.
- the point of the ecliptic or the sign and degree of the zodiac setting below the western horizon at the time of a birth or of an event.
- the cusp of the seventh house.
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Origin of descendant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for descendant
Contemporary Examples
Her grandfather had been a physician and healer who—according to family lore—married a descendant of the Osage or Pawnee tribes.
In the original Marvel comic books, the Mandarin was born and bred in China, a descendant of Genghis Khan no less.
Did Hollywood Collaborate With Hitler? A New Book Makes Bold Claims.Christopher Bray
September 9, 2013
It is common knowledge among those familiar with the rabbinic tradition that Haman was considered a descendant of the Amalekites.
Her mother, a descendant of Ashby, helped manage a sugar plantation her family inherited, bringing the story full circle.
The Original Slave Colony: Barbados and Andrea Stuart’s ‘Sugar in the Blood’Eric Herschthal
January 24, 2013
Today, in a time of great national distress, Nehru's descendant cannot find the fiber to meet his people.
Historical Examples
"Jock of Norfolk" is represented by a descendant of noble impulses.
Beaux and Belles of EnglandMary Robinson
It was nothing—only the quip of a witty fellow, descendant of a Spanish freebooter.
The ManxmanHall Caine
Algernon Sidney, beheaded on Tower Hill, was his descendant.
England, Picturesque and DescriptiveJoel Cook
Imagine the look he would bestow on his descendant as I sat down to table.
Sir Jasper CarewCharles James Lever
With Cyrus, the descendant of Achæmenes, the real history of Persia begins.
Les ParsisD. Menant
descendant
- a person, animal, or plant when described as descended from an individual, race, species, etc
- something that derives or is descended from an earlier form
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- a variant spelling of descendent
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Descendant
- astrology the point on the ecliptic lying directly opposite the Ascendant
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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 descendant
mid-15c. (adj.), c.1600 (n.), from French descendant (13c.), present participle of descendre (see descend). Despite a tendency to use descendent for the adjective and descendant for the noun, descendant seems to be prevailing in all uses and appears 5 times more often than its rival in books printed since 1900. Cf. dependant.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper