ascendant
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈsɛnd(ə)nt/
ipa: /əˈsɛndənt/
rhymes: -ɛndənt
Forms: form: ascendants
form: ascendent
Etymology: PIE word
 *h₂éd
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English ascendent (“ascending, rising; increasing in quantity; (astronomy) rising above the horizon”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French ascendant, from Latin ascendentem, the accusative singular of ascendēns (“ascending, rising”), the present participle of ascendō, adscendō (“to climb up, go up, move upwards; to rise; to spring up”), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘(up) to’) + scandō (“to ascend, climb, mount; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; to scan (poetry)”)). The English word is analysable as ascend (verb) + -ant (suffix forming adjectives from verbs with the sense of ‘doing [the verbal actions]’).
The noun is probably derived from the adjective, though it is attested earlier than the latter.
Senses: examples: text: [T]hey ſay that Jeſus in his natiuitie, had for his aſcendent, the ſigne of Virgo in her firſt face, as they terme it, […]
ref: 1587, Philip of Mornay [i.e., Philippe de Mornay], “A Solution of the Obiections of the Heathen ageinst Iesus, the Sonne of God”, in Philip Sidney, Arthur Golding, transl., A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, […], London: […] [John Charlewood and] George Robinson for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 619:
text: At my Nativity, my aſcendent vvas the earthly ſigne of Scorpius, I vvas borne in the Planetary houre of Saturne, and I think I have a piece of that Leaden Planet in me.
ref: 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The Second Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, section 11, page 164:
text: There he was a mere cypher: here he was lord of the ascendant; the choice spirit, the dominant genius.
ref: 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Club of Queer Fellows”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 2 (Buckthorne and His Friends), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC, page 22:
text: The most important part of the sky in the astrologer's consideration, was that sign of the zodiac which rose at the moment of the child's birth; this was, properly speaking, the horoscope, the ascendant, or the first house; the whole circuit of the heavens being divided into twelve houses, in which life and death, marriage and children, riches and honours, friends and enemies were distributed.
ref: 1837, William Whewell, “On the Mysticism of the Middle Ages”, in History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: J. and J. J. Deighton, →OCLC, book IV (History of the Physical Sciences in the Middle Ages), page 300:
topics: astrology
human-sciences
mysticism
philosophy
sciences
glosses: The degree of the zodiac or point of the ecliptic which rises in an eastern direction above the horizon at a particular moment (especially the moment of a person's birth), which is supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's fortune and life; a horoscope.
examples: text: Towards the end of the session of 1836, the hopes of the Conservative party were again in the ascendant.
ref: 1844, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter V, in Coningsby; or, The New Generation. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 47:
text: [T]hose poets, […] by enriching the common language and by circulating from to town to town either in person or in their compositions, contributed to fan the flame of Pan-Hellenic patriotism at a time when there were few circumstances to co-operate with them, and when the causes tending to perpetuate isolation seemed in the ascendant.
ref: 1847, George Grote, “Lyric Poetry—The Seven Wise Men”, in History of Greece, volume IV, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, part II (Continuation of Historical Greece), page 136:
glosses: Chiefly in in the ascendant: an act of ascending or rising.
examples: text: One man has the ascendant over another.
text: To my aſcendant haſting then to clime, / There are the firſt predomining the time.
ref: 1607, Michael Drayton, “The Legend of Great Cromwell”, in Poems: […], London: […] Willi[am] Stansby for Iohn Smethwicke, published 1630, →OCLC, page 446:
text: [T]he Dominion of ſucceeding Favourites […] occaſioned perpetual commotions in that State, and changes of the Miniſtry; and vvould certainly have produced thoſe in the Government too; if [Cardinal] Richelieu having gained the abſolute aſcendant in that Court, had not engaged in the deſigns at firſt of a VVar upon the Hugonots, and after that vvas ended, upon Spain; […]
ref: 1679, William Temple, “An Essay upon the Original and Nature of Government. […]”, in Miscellanea. […], London: […] A. M. and R. R. for Edw[ard] Gellibrand, […], →OCLC, pages 91–92:
text: Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young monarch the aſcendant not only of a tutor, but of a parent.
ref: 1769, William Robertson, “Book I”, in The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. […], volume II, London: […] W. and W. Strahan, for W[illiam] Strahan, T[homas] Cadell, […]; and J. Balfour, […], →OCLC, page 44:
glosses: Synonym of ascendancy (“commanding influence; dominant control; superiority, supremacy”).
synonyms: word: ascendancy
extra: commanding influence; dominant control; superiority, supremacy
examples: text: The Eſtate and Inheritance of a Perſon dying Inteſtate is, by Right of Devolution, according to the Civil-Lavv, given to ſuch as are ally'd to him ex Latere, commonly ſtiled Collaterals, if there be no Aſcendants or Deſcendants ſurviving at the time of his Death.
ref: 1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Administration, and the Possession of Intestate Goods”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […], →OCLC, page 34:
antonyms: descendant
qualifier: genealogy
glosses: An ancestor.
examples: text: Given his father’s ghastly demise, one would not expect such glee from the ascendant to his throne.
text: [P]ryde can endure no Superiours, no equals, no aſcendants, no ſprigs, no grafts, no likely beginnings.
ref: 1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 15, verso:
glosses: A person who ascends or goes up; specifically (usually followed by to), a person who ascends to a throne or assumes some other position of power.
glosses: Something which is higher than the things around it; a peak, a summit; specifically (typography), synonym of ascender (“the portion of a lowercase letter that extends above the midline”).
examples: text: [T]here can be no reaſon yeilded neither in nature, nor in relation, vvherefore, if it have lavvfully mounted thus high, it ſhould not be a Lordly aſcendent in the horoſcope of the Church, from Primate to Patriarch, and ſo to Pope.
ref: 1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “That Prelaty was Not Set Up for Prevention of Schisme, as is Pretended, or if It were, that It Performes Not what It was First Set Up for, but quite the Contrary”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 25:
glosses: Something which leads or slopes upwards, such as a flight of stairs or an upward incline.
examples: text: Indeed, my dear Sir, there is not a single particular in the Francis-street declamations, which has not, to your and to my certain knowledge, been taught by the jealous ascendants, sometimes by doctrine, sometimes by example, always by provocation.
ref: 1795 May 26 (date written), Edmund Burke, “A Second Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe”, in [Walker King], editor, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, new edition, volume IX, London: […] [R. Gilbert] for C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], published 1826, →OCLC, pages 418–419:
glosses: A person who supports a policy of ecclesiastical or national supremacy.
Derived terms: in the ascendant
lord of the ascendant