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

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

2. descendverb

   To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic]

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

5. descendverb

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

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

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.

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

7. descendverb

   To move toward the south, or to the southward.

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

8. descendverb

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

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

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.

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

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

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

2. Descendverb

   to enter mentally; to retire

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

3. Descendverb

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

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

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

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

5. Descendverb

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

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

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

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

7. Descendverb

   to move toward the south, or to the southward

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

8. Descendverb

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

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

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

   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

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

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. Van Beurden:

   You cannot talk credibly about lowering emissions globally if, for example, you are slow to acknowledge climate change; if you undermine calls for an effective carbon price; and if you always descend into the 'jobs versus environment' argument in the public debate.

2. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew:

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

3. Alexis karpouzos:

   All humans on earth are one. We descend from the same family of common ancestors. We are, in a quite literal sense, siblings, and like siblings we depend on each other's love and care and responsibility. We are interdependent not just in our families and communities, but in nations, and increasingly on a global scale - just as we are also interdependent with nature and the earth.

4. Fred Robinson:

   The nation will become more bifurcated and will descend into these tribal spaces that I don't think will be good for us, i do anticipate a lot more pain.

5. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, German Ideology, Chapter 3:

   One of the most difficult tasks confronting philosophers is to descend from the world of thought to the actual world. Language is the immediate actuality of thought. Just as philosophers have given thought an independent existence, so they were bound to make language into an independent realm.

Images & Illustrations of descend

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