descend
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: astrology
astronomy
biology
chemistry
entertainment
human-sciences
law
lifestyle
mathematics
medicine
music
mysticism
natural-sciences
philosophy
physical-sciences
physiology
religion
sciences
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English descenden (“to move downwards, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to go from a better to a worse condition, decline, degenerate; to be a descendant, derive from (a source); etc.”), from Anglo-Norman descendere, descendre, and Old French descendere, descendre (“to move downwards, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to be a descendant, derive from (a source); etc.”) (modern French descendre), and from their etymon Latin dēscendere, the present active infinitive of dēscendō (“to come or go down, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to be a descendant; etc.”), from de- (prefix meaning ‘from; down from’) + scandō (“to ascend, climb; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump”)).
The noun is derived from the verb.
Inflected forms:
form: descends
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: descending
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: descend
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: descend
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: descend
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: descendest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: descendedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: descends
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: descendeth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: descend
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: descend
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: descend
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: descending
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: descended
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: they descended the river in boats
to descend a ladder
The noble prince descended to one knee to ask for the princess’s hand in marriage.
[T]hey both deſcend the Hill; […]
[I]f, after deſcending a flight of ſtairs, vve attempt inadvertently to take another ſtep in the manner of the former ones, the ſhock is extreamly rude and diſagreeable; and by no art, can vve cauſe ſuch a ſhock by the ſame means, vvhen vve expect and prepare for it.
But never tear his cheek descended, / And never smile his brow unbended; […]
I saw him descend the mountain with greater speed than the flight of an eagle, and quickly lost among the undulations of the sea of ice.
[T]hese men descend very steep and dangerous cliffs near Seaham Harbour and pick up coal from the shore.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: They took the steep path that descends the hill down to the beach.
Soon after Crowhurst, the down grade steepens to 1 in 100 as the line descends the side of a valley, at the mouth of which a glimpse of the sea can be caught—the only one.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
transitive
examples: [T]he common Devv exhaled from ſome ſorts of Herbs or VVeeds, but eſpecially from the common Graſs, carries vvith it the Seminal Tincture of the Herb, vvhich being again deſcended by Devvs or Rain upon the bare and naked Earth, re-produceth the ſame Species: […]
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: And there is another watergang, called Haile Fayers watergang, 4 miles long and 16 feet broad, which descendeth by a spoye of stone at Hofkirk bridge into the said great river, which must always be cast at the tenants' cost.
They leade theyr life in pleaſure, & at a poppe, down they deſcende into hell.
So God and man is one Chriſte. / Who ſuffered for oure ſaluacion: deſcended into hell, roſe agayne the third daye from the dead. / He aſcended into heauen, he ſytteth on the right hand of the father, God almighty: from whence he ſhall come to iudge the quicke and dead.
[…] Noe [i.e., Noah] vvith his familie comming out of the arke vpon the top of the mount Cordicus, deſcended into the plaine at the foote of the mountaine filled vvith dead bodies (vvhich is called Miri Adam, vvhich is as much as the place of bovvelled men) […]
And the raine deſcended, and the floods came, and the windes blew, and beat vpon that houſe; and it fell not: for it was founded vpon a rock.
Dark Clouds bring VVaters, vvhen the bright bring none / Yea, dark or bright, if they their Silver drops / Cause to deſcend, the Earth, by yielding crops, / Gives praiſe to both, and carpeth not at either, / But treaſures up the Fruit they yield together: […]
But this I knovv, ſhould Jupiter agen / Deſcend from heaven, to re-converſe vvith men; / The Romane Language full and ſuperfine, / If Iove vvo'd ſpeake, he vvo'd accept of thine.
The air was cold, and the rain again began to descend: we entered the hut, the fiend with an air of exultation, I with a heavy heart and depressed spirits.
O stream descending to the sea, / Thy mossy banks between, / The flow'rets blow, the grasses grow, / The leafy trees are green. // In garden plots the children play, / The fields the labourers till, / And houses stand on either hand, / And thou descendest still.
And they accosted the sheykh Abu-r-Ruweysh and said to him, O our sheykh, Bahrám practised a strategem to effect his ascent to the top of the mountain, and how did he descend, and what wonders did he see upon the mountain? The sheykh Abu-r-Ruweysh therefore said, O Ḥasan, tell them how thou descendedst, and acquaint them with the wonders that thou sawest.
Let that mighty rushing wind, in which aforetime Thou descendedst, purge away the chaff of our carnal affections, and with a holy violence beat down our strongholds of sin, and all the proud imaginations that resist Thy grace.
As it is, the miner is one of the most overworked and deplorably underpaid men in the country. […] I know very well that if your supply of coal depended on my walking several miles to a pithead, descending in a cage for half a mile, walking again to the dwindling tunnel where I had to work, then slogging away for about seven hours in that hell, all for something like two pounds a week, your grates would be empty.
Rudy felt a gust of fear rise in his chest, and he looked again in the mirror, but the hangar and stable were now beyond the rise, out of sight, he was descending so fast.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: [T]he ſetting Sun / Slowly deſcended, and with right aſpect / Againſt the eaſtern Gate of Paradiſe / Leveld his eevning Rayes: […]
The moon had reached her summit in the heavens and was beginning to descend; the clouds swept across it swifter than the flight of the vulture and dimmed her rays, while the lake reflected the scene of the busy heavens, rendered still busier by the restless waves that were beginning to rise.
Sol, with broaden'd orb, descending, / Left fierce warriors still contending, / Brilliant Vesper shed her glances, / Ere they sheathed their blood-stained lances.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Cryptorchidism is the failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Novv paſs'd the rugged road, they journey dovvn / The cavern'd vvay deſcending to the tovvn, […]
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: historical
intransitive
examples: Their ſails they loos'd, they laſh'd the maſt aſide, / And caſt their anchors, and the cables ty'd: / Then on the breezy ſhore deſcending, join / In grateful banquet o'er the roſy vvine.
About ten o'clock a horse and wagon was descried making a slow approach to the camp over the prairie. […] When the conveyance at length drew up to Mr. Thompson's door, the gentleman descended with great deliberation, straightened himself up, rubbed his hands, and beaming satisfaction from every part of his radiant frame, advanced to the group that was gathered to welcome him, and which had saluted him by name as soon as he came within hearing.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: […] VVinter comes on ſoftly, firſt by colde devves, then hoare froſts, vntill at laſt it deſcende to the hardeſt vveather of all: […]
Thy glories novv have touch'd the higheſt point, / And muſt deſcend.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: Death dvvels vvithin vs, and if gentle Peace / Diſcend not ſoone, our ſorrovves to ſurceaſe, / Latium (alreadie quaild) vvill be deſtroyd.
Hear, Goddeſs, hear, by thoſe oblations vvon; / And for the pious fire preſerve the ſon: / His vviſh'd return vvith happy povv'r befriend, / And on the Suitors let thy vvrath deſcend.
Death spreadeth darkly above thee, / Descendeth, descendeth upon thee, / Suffocating! suffocating! ah!
And she managed to keep the good news to herself, though it would seem that the most careless observer might have seen by her springing step and her radiant countenance that some fine piece of good fortune had descended upon her.
[A]ll the tall chimneys in it [a photograph]—and I can count twenty-five—are smoking furiously, belching out thick dark clouds that look as if they will descend on the ugly conglomeration of roofs below. That is what it must have looked like throughout all the great days of the industry.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: But this ſubject begins to ſvvell beyond the bounds intended unto it, leſt therefore vvhat vve intended but a Tract ſhould ſvvell to a Tome, vve vvill here deſcend to matters of later date.
He imagined that he had novv purchaſed the privilege of diſcourſe and began to deſcend to familiar queſtions, endeavouring to accommodate his diſcourſe to the groſſneſs of ruſtick underſtandings.
But let us deſcend to particulars.
Historians rarely descend to those details from which alone the real state of a community can be collected.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: The meeting descended into chaos.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: When moving down against [him] thou descendest against the sleeping man unknowing, let Varuṇa cover me with a golden armor.
I suffer at times from damp snivelling colds in the head, which descend upon me quite suddenly, turning me into a helpless and disgusting red-nosed and red-eyed animal feebly crying for still more handkerchiefs.
[T]he low growl of engines coming from high above the cloud cover, alerts us to the fact that there are many more aircraft descending on us than had done during previous visits from the snoopers in their usual ones and twos.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: My neighbour descended upon me just as I was walking out the door.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: He descended from his high estate.
[I]f (as ſeldome) he deſcend to diſports of chance, his games ſhall neuer make him either pale vvith feare, or hote vvith deſire of gaine.
But what will not Ambition and Revenge / Deſcend to? vvho aſpires muſt down as low / As high he ſoard, obnoxious firſt or laſt / To baſeſt things.
If I have not been diſtinguiſhed by the diſtributers of literary honours, I have ſeldom deſcended to any of the arts by vvhich favour is obtained.
Not oft to smile descendeth he, / And when he doth 'tis sad to see / That he but mocks at Misery.
But that a shrewd statesman, whose earliest works are characterised by manliness of thought and language, should, at near sixty years of age, descend to such puerility, is utterly inconceivable.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
poetic
examples: VVhen I deſcend into my ſelf, and contemplat my moſt terrible horrible terribility, I can hardly hold my ſelf vvithin my ſelf; […]
[He] vvith holieſt Meditations fed, / Into himſelf deſcended, and at once / All his great vvork to come before him ſet; […]
Let us deſcend into our ovvn boſoms; let us aſk ourſelves vvhat are our duties, and vvhat are our means of diſcharging them.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: Indefinite numbers I ſuppoſe to be intermediate Numbers lying betvveen finite and infinite: For as vve do not deſcend from 1 to 0 at one Step, but muſt paſs through an infinite Series of Fractions, ½, ⅓, ¼, ¹⁄₅, &c.
gloss: Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
gloss: Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
rare
transitive
gloss: Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: [T]he eternal Mark of having had a vvicked Anceſtor deſcends to his Poſterity; his VVife is deprived of her Dovvry, and all his Deſcendants are made ignoble: […]
gloss: Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The beggar may descend from a prince.
The Rebels are in Southvvarke: Fly my Lord: / Iacke Cade proclaimes himſelfe Lord Mortimer, / Deſcended from the Duke of Clarence houſe, / And calles your Grace Vſurper, openly, / And vovves to Crovvne himſelfe in VVeſtminſter.
Thou ſhould'ſt haue better pleas'd me vvith this deede, / Hadſt thou deſcended from another houſe: […]
[I]f a dog be not vvel deſcended, that is to ſay, begot by an excellent dog, or an excellent bitch, there can be little hope of his goodneſſe.
The humble petition of WHO and WHICH, […] We are descended of ancient families, and kept up our dignity and honour many years till the jack-sprat THAT supplanted us.
An hero, deſcended from a race of Kings, muſt have deſpiſed the baſe Iſaurian vvho vvas inveſted vvith the Roman purple, vvithout any endovvments of mind or body, vvithout any advantages of royal birth, or ſuperior qualifications.
They came over to Massachusetts Bay in another vessel, and thus escaped the onus of that brevet nobility under which the successors of the Mayflower Pilgrims had descended.
Didn't you know? I am descended in the female line from the Court de Lauria who came over to England in the suite of Philip the Second and married a maid of honour of Queen Mary.
gloss: Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The crown descends to the heir of the previous monarch.
[I]f the Tenant giue a part of the Tenancie to the father of the Lord in Taile, the father dieth, and this deſcends to the Lord, in this caſe by Act in Law the Seigniorie is ſuſpended in part and in eſſe for part, and the ſame Law is of a Rent charge.
As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, vvhich vvould otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]
The possession of the sacred fire and of the ancestral sticks, carrying with it both political authority and priestly dignity, descends in the male line, and hence generally passes from father to son.
Related words: ascend
condescend
descendant
descent
scan
scandent
transcend
Derived words: descendable
descendible
descendance
descendancy
descended
descendence
descendency
descender
descending
descend into the arena
descend on
descend upon
maldescended
redescend
undescended
Translations:
lang: Albanian
word: bie
lang: Albanian
word: ulem
lang: Bangi
word: sunda
lang: Finnish
word: laskea
lang: Finnish
word: laskeutua
lang: French
word: descendre
lang: German
word: hinuntergehen
lang: Hungarian
word: lemegy
lang: Lingala
word: kita
lang: Lingala
word: sunda
lang: Portuguese
word: descer
lang: Spanish
word: descender
lang: Turkish
word: inmek
lang: Afrikaans
word: afgaan
lang: Albanian
word: bie
lang: Southern Altai
word: тӱжер
roman: tüžer
lang: Arabic
word: نَزَلَ
roman: nazala
lang: Arabic
word: نزل
roman: nizil
lang: Arabic
word: هبط
roman: hbaṭ
lang: Arabic
word: نزل
roman: nzal
lang: Armenian
word: իջնել
roman: iǰnel
lang: Aromanian
word: dipun
lang: Aromanian
word: versu
lang: Azerbaijani
word: çökmək
lang: Azerbaijani
word: enmək
lang: Balinese
word: tuun
lang: Bashkir
word: төшөү
roman: töşöw
lang: Belarusian
word: спуска́цца
roman: spuskácca
lang: Belarusian
word: спусці́цца
roman: spuscícca
lang: Bulgarian
word: слизам
roman: slizam
lang: Bulgarian
word: спускам се
roman: spuskam se
lang: Burmese
word: ဆင်း
roman: hcang:
lang: Catalan
word: descendir
lang: Chickasaw
word: akkowa
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 降
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 下
roman: xià
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 下降
roman: xiàjiàng
lang: Maore Comorian
word: ushuka
lang: Czech
word: sestoupit
lang: Dutch
word: afdalen
lang: Dutch
word: neerdalen
lang: Egyptian
word: h-A-D54
roman: hꜣj
lang: Esperanto
word: profundiĝi
lang: Estonian
word: alanduma
lang: Estonian
word: langema
lang: Estonian
word: laskuma
lang: Estonian
word: madalduma
lang: Finnish
word: laskeutua
lang: French
word: descendre
lang: West-Frisian
word: ôfdale
lang: West-Frisian
word: dale
lang: Friulian
word: dismontâ
lang: German
word: absteigen
lang: German
word: herabsteigen
lang: German
word: herunterkommen
lang: German
word: niedergehen
lang: Greek
word: κατεβαίνω
roman: katevaíno
lang: Ancient Greek
word: καταβαίνω
roman: katabaínō
lang: Hebrew
word: יָרַד
roman: yarád
lang: Hindi
word: उतरना
roman: utarnā
lang: Hungarian
word: lemegy
lang: Ido
word: decensar
lang: Indonesian
word: turun
lang: Irish
word: ísligh
lang: Italian
word: discendere
lang: Italian
word: scendere
lang: Japanese
word: 降下する
roman: kōkasuru
lang: Japanese
word: 降りる
roman: oriru
lang: Javanese
word: mudhun
lang: Khmer
word: ចុះ
roman: coh
lang: Kituba
word: kita
lang: Kituba
word: kukita
lang: Korean
word: 내리다
roman: naerida
lang: Korean
word: 내려오다
roman: naeryeooda
lang: Korean
word: 내려가다
roman: naeryeogada
lang: Lao
word: ລົງ
roman: long
lang: Latin
word: descendō
lang: Lingala
word: kita
lang: Lombard
word: andà giò
lang: Malay
word: turun
lang: Maltese
word: niżel
lang: Māori
word: makere
lang: Māori
word: marere
lang: Norman
word: d'scendre
lang: Occitan
word: descénder
lang: Occitan
word: descendre
lang: Occitan
word: davalar
lang: Oromo
word: bu'uu
lang: Polish
word: schodzić
lang: Polish
word: zejść
lang: Polish
word: zniżać się
lang: Polish
word: zniżyć się
lang: Portuguese
word: descender
lang: Portuguese
word: baixar
lang: Portuguese
word: descer
lang: Quechua
word: bahay
lang: Quechua
word: uray
lang: Romanian
word: coborî
lang: Russian
word: спуска́ться
roman: spuskátʹsja
lang: Russian
word: спусти́ться
roman: spustítʹsja
lang: Russian
word: сходи́ть
roman: sxodítʹ
lang: Russian
word: сойти́
roman: sojtí
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: сѝлазити
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: си̑ћи
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: спу́штати се
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: спу̀стити се
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: sìlaziti
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: sȋći
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: spúštati se
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: spùstiti se
lang: Sidamo
word: dirra
lang: Spanish
word: descender
lang: Spanish
word: bajar
lang: Swahili
word: kushuka
lang: Tagalog
word: bumaba
lang: Tamil
word: இறங்கு
roman: iṟaṅku
lang: Tetum
word: tun
lang: Thai
word: ลง
roman: long
lang: Tocharian B
word: kārp-
lang: Turkish
word: alçalmak
lang: Turkish
word: inmek
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: آشاغیلامق
roman: aşağılamak
lang: Ugaritic
word: 𐎊𐎗𐎄
roman: yrd
lang: Ukrainian
word: спуска́тися
roman: spuskátysja
lang: Ukrainian
word: спусти́тися
roman: spustýtysja
lang: Vietnamese
word: xuống
lang: Walloon
word: dischinde
lang: Walloon
word: adschinde
lang: Welsh
word: disgyn
lang: Yaghnobi
word: ԝесак
roman: wyesak
lang: Yiddish
word: אַראָפּגיין
roman: aropgeyn