Word: ascendant Part of Speech: noun 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. Pronunciation: /əˈsɛnd(ə)nt/, /əˈsɛndənt/ 1. 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. Labels: also, figuratively Example: [T]hey ſay that Jeſus in his natiuitie, had for his aſcendent, the ſigne of Virgo in her firſt face, as they terme it, […] Example: 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. 2. Chiefly in in the ascendant: an act of ascending or rising. Labels: broadly Example: Towards the end of the session of 1836, the hopes of the Conservative party were again in the ascendant. Example: [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. 3. Synonym of ascendancy (“commanding influence; dominant control; superiority, supremacy”). Labels: broadly, figuratively Example: One man has the ascendant over another. Example: To my aſcendant haſting then to clime, / There are the firſt predomining the time. 4. An ancestor. Labels: broadly Example: 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. 5. 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. Labels: broadly, obsolete Example: Given his father’s ghastly demise, one would not expect such glee from the ascendant to his throne. Example: [P]ryde can endure no Superiours, no equals, no aſcendants, no ſprigs, no grafts, no likely beginnings. 6. 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”). Labels: broadly, obsolete 7. Something which leads or slopes upwards, such as a flight of stairs or an upward incline. Labels: broadly, obsolete Example: [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. 8. A person who supports a policy of ecclesiastical or national supremacy. Labels: broadly, obsolete, rare Example: 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.