descendent
Americanadjective
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coming or going downwards; descending
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deriving by descent, as from an ancestor
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of descendent
1565–75; < Latin dēscendent- (stem of dēscendēns ), present participle of dēscendere. See descend, -ent
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.
As a child of refugees from Hitler’s Germany and the descendent of a once-large family tree, many of whose branches were obliterated by the Holocaust, Mr. Moritz registered the diagnosis with mordant irony.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
The paper reports that the man was a direct descendent of Queen Victoria.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Evolutionary biologists have long suspected that the diversification of a single species into multiple descendent species -- that is, an "adaptive radiation" -- is the result of each species adapting to a different environment.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 18, 2024
Wearing the black turban of a sayyed, or a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad, and Shi'ite clerical robes, Nasrallah is one of the most prominent figures in the Arab world.
From Reuters ● Nov. 2, 2023
The duke of Veragua, a direct descendent of Columbus, sat in the fourteenth carriage; the duchess occupied the fifteenth with Bertha Palmer, whose diamonds radiated an almost palpable heat.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
