Definitions for descend
dɪˈsɛndde·scend

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. descend, fall, go down, come downverb

   move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

   "The temperature is going down"; "The barometer is falling"; "The curtain fell on the diva"; "Her hand went up and then fell again"

2. derive, come, descendverb

   come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example

   "She was descended from an old Italian noble family"; "he comes from humble origins"

3. condescend, deign, descendverb

   do something that one considers to be below one's dignity

4. fall, descend, settleverb

   come as if by falling

   "Night fell"; "Silence fell"

Wiktionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. descendverb

   To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward

2. descendverb

   To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]

   [He] with holiest meditations fed, Into himself descended. John Milton.

3. descendverb

   To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon.

   And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. Alexander Pope.

4. descendverb

   To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.

5. descendverb

   To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.

6. descendverb

   To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.

7. descendverb

   To move toward the south, or to the southward.

8. descendverb

   To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.

9. descendverb

   To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder.

   But never tears his cheek descended. Byron.

10. Etymology: From decenden, from descendre, from descendere, past participle descensus, from de- + scandere. See scan, scandent. Compare ascend, condescend, transcend.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. To DESCENDverb

   Etymology: descendo, Latin.

   1. To come from a higher place to a lower; to fall; to sink.

   The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Matt. vii. 25.

   The brook that descended out of the mount. Deutr. ix. 21.

   He cleft his head with one descending blow. Dryden.

   Foul with stains
   Of gushing torrents and descending rains. Joseph Addison, Cato.

   O goddess! who, descending from the skies,
   Vouchsaf’d thy presence to my wond’ring eyes. Alexander Pope, Odyss.

   2. To come down in a popular sense, implying only an arrival at one place from another.

   He shall descend into battle, and perish. 1 Sa. xxvi. 10.

   3. To come suddenly or violently; to fall upon as an enemy.

   For the pious fire preserve the son;
   His wish’d return with happy pow’r befriend,
   And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. Alexander Pope, Odyssey, b. iv.

   4. To make an invasion.

   The goddess gives th’ alarm; and soon is known
   The Grecian fleet, descending on the town. Dryden.

   A foreign son upon the shore descends,
   Whose martial fame from pole to pole extends. Dryden.

   5. To proceed from an original; to be extracted from.

   Despair descends from a mean original; the offspring of fear, laziness, and impatience. Jeremy Collier, against Despair.

   Will is younger brother to a baronet, and descended of the ancient family of the Wimbles. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 108.

   6. To fall in order of inheritance to a successor.

   Should we allow that all the property, all the estate of the father, ought to descend to the eldest son; yet the father’s natural dominion, the paternal power, cannot descend unto him by inheritance. John Locke.

   The inheritance of both rule over men and property, in things sprung from the same original, and were to descend by the same rules. John Locke.

   Our author provides for the descending and conveyance down of Adam’s monarchical power to posterity, by the inheritance of his heir, succeeding to his father’s authority. John Locke.

   7. To extend a discourse from general to particular considerations.

   Congregations discerned the small accord that was among themselves, when they descended to particulars. Decay of Piety.

2. To Descendverb

   To walk downward upon any place.

   He ended, and they both descend the hill;
   Descended Adam to the bow’r, where Eve
   Lay sleeping. John Milton, Paradise Lost.

   In all our journey through the Alps, as well when we climbed as when we descended them, we had still a river running along with the road. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

   In the midst of this plain stands a high hill, so very steep, that there would be no mounting or descending it, were not it made up of a loose crumbled earth. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Descendverb

   to pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend

2. Descendverb

   to enter mentally; to retire

3. Descendverb

   to make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon

4. Descendverb

   to come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate

5. Descendverb

   to pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered

6. Descendverb

   to come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir

7. Descendverb

   to move toward the south, or to the southward

8. Descendverb

   to fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone

9. Descendverb

   to go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder

10. Etymology: [F. descendre, L. descendere, descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Descend

   dē-send′, v.i. to climb down: to pass from a higher to a lower place or condition: to pass from general to particulars: to fall upon or invade: to be derived.—v.t. to go down upon: to go to the bottom of.—n. Descend′ant, one who descends, as offspring from an ancestor.—adjs. Descend′ent, descending or going down: proceeding from an ancestor; Descend′ible, that may descend or be descended: capable of transmission by inheritance, heritable.—p.adj. Descend′ing.—n. Descen′sion.—adj. Descen′sional.—n. Descent′, act of descending: transmission by succession: motion or progress downward: slope: a falling upon or invasion: derivation from an ancestor: a generation, a degree in genealogy: descendants collectively.—Descent from the cross, a picture representing Christ being taken down from the cross. [Fr. descendre—L. descendĕre—de, down, scandĕre, to climb.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. descend

   In a military sense, means to make an attack or incursion as if from a vantage-ground.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. descend

   The descend symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the descend symbol and its characteristic.

Matched Categories

1. • Act
   • Come

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'descend' in Verbs Frequency: #789

How to pronounce descend?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say descend in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of descend in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of descend in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of descend in a Sentence

1. Michael Gapen:

   We believe meeting the 1.6 billion euros in payments to the IMF by the end of June will be difficult. Payments of 3.5 billion euros on bonds held by the ECB on July 20 appear even more unlikely, without an agreement, Greece could descend into what would effectively be an exit from the euro area, where defaults and capital controls become a permanent feature.

2. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew:

   I just do not believe that we can let three and a half million Americans descend into chaos.

3. Kahlil Gibran:

   No lower can a man descend than to interpret his dreams into gold and silver.

4. Albert Vera:

   The Washington Square Park situation reminds me a lot of the Tompkins Square Park situation of 1988, the cityeither needs to ignore the situation totally and let the park descend into bedlam or just end it. The choice is theirs. I don’t think it will end without some sort of police action.

5. Mark Bederow:

   Commercial burglaries will be subjected to a lax standard of prosecution, which hopefully will not encourage criminals to descend upon Manhattan to engage in the flash mob burglaries that have all but destroyed business in San Francisco.

Popularity rank by frequency of use