descended
Americanadjective
-
having a specified ancestry or ethnic origin.
She was the only daughter of a wealthy baron and his royally descended wife.
-
having gone from a higher place or position to a lower one.
The cooled and descended air then travels along the earth’s surface toward the equator to replace air rising from the equatorial zone.
He was hailed as some descended godhead on earth—an avatar.
-
inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family.
Early mammals generally possessed claws, and all existing cat species carry that descended trait.
-
derived from something in the remote past, especially through continuous transmission.
Traditional religions tend to focus on descended practice and ritual rather than on doctrine taught by a religious institution.
verb
Other Word Forms
- undescended adjective
Etymology
Origin of descended
First recorded in 1560–70; descend ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; descend ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
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.
The crash highlighted Turkey’s role as a power broker in Libya, an oil-rich country in north Africa that descended into political crisis and civil war after a 2011 rebellion overthrew former dictator Col.
As helicopters circled overhead, sirens descended on her suburb, and people ran screaming down her street on 14 December, Mary felt a grim sense of deja vu.
From BBC
Since news of the killing broke on Sunday, the international press has descended on the community.
From Los Angeles Times
The Nama, who straddle South Africa and Namibia, are descended from the indigenous nomadic peoples – the Khoi and the San – seen as the original human inhabitants of this part of the world.
From BBC
The brutal realities of life as a Celtic manager have descended on his head in double-quick time.
From BBC
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.
