DESCENT

descent

(noun) the act of changing your location in a downward direction

origin, descent, extraction

(noun) properties attributable to your ancestry; “he comes from good origins”

descent

(noun) a movement downward

lineage, line, line of descent, descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree, ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock

(noun) the descendants of one individual; “his entire lineage has been warriors”

descent, declivity, fall, decline, declination, declension, downslope

(noun) a downward slope or bend

descent, line of descent, lineage, filiation

(noun) the kinship relation between an individual and the individual’s progenitors

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

descent (countable and uncountable, plural descents)

An instance of descending; act of coming down.

A way down.

A sloping passage or incline.

Lineage or hereditary derivation.

A drop to a lower status or condition; decline.

A falling upon or invasion.

(topology) A particular extension of the idea of gluing. See Descent (mathematics).

Usage notes

• Sometimes confused with decent.

Antonyms

• (going down): ascent

Anagrams

• cedents, scented

Source: Wiktionary

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De*scent", n. Etym: [F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente, from vendre. See Descend.]

1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.

2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; - - often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy. The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts. Jortin.

3. Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc.

2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction. Dryden.

5. (Law)

Definition: Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity. Abbott.

6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.

7. That which is descended; descendants; issue. If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must be born to certain woe. Milton.

8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation. No man living is a thousand descents removed from Adam himself. Hooker.

9. Lowest place; extreme downward place. [R.] And from the extremest upward of thy head, To the descent and dust below thy foot. Shak.

10. (Mus.)

Definition: A passing from a higher to a lower tone.

Syn.

– Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage; assault; invasion; attack.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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