descent

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descent

downward incline or passage: a steep descent

Not to be confused with:

dissent – to differ in sentiment or opinion; disapproval; disagreement: open dissent

de·scent

(dĭ-sĕnt′)

1. The act or an instance of descending: the slow descent of the scuba divers.

a. A way down: fashioned a descent with an ice axe.

b. A downward incline or passage; a slope: watched the stones roll down the descent.

3. Hereditary derivation; lineage: a person of African descent.

4. The fact or process of being derived or developing from a source: a paper tracing the descent of the novel from old picaresque tales.

5. Law Transmission of property, especially real estate, to a hereditary heir by an intestate owner.

6. A lowering or decline, as in status or level: Her career went into a rapid descent after the charges of misconduct.

7. A sudden visit or attack; an onslaught: the descent of the marauders on the settlement.

[Middle English, from Old French descente, from descendre, to descend (on the model of rente, rent rendre, to render); see descend.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

descent

(dɪˈsɛnt)

1. the act of descending

2. a downward slope or inclination

3. a passage, path, or way leading downwards

4. (Anthropology & Ethnology) derivation from an ancestor or ancestral group; lineage

5. (Anthropology & Ethnology) (in genealogy) a generation in a particular lineage

6. a decline or degeneration

7. a movement or passage in degree or state from higher to lower

8. (often foll by on) a sudden and overwhelming arrival or attack

9. (Law) property law (formerly) the transmission of real property to the heir on an intestacy

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

de•scent

(dɪˈsɛnt)

n.

1. the act, process, or fact of descending.

2. a downward inclination or slope.

3. a passage or stairway leading down.

4. derivation from an ancestor; lineage; extraction.

5. any passing from higher to lower in degree or state; decline.

6. a sudden raid or hostile attack.

7. transmission of real property by intestate succession.

[1300–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French descente, derivative of descendre to descend]

Descent

of woodpeckers: a flock of woodpeckers—Lipton, 1970; also descendants collectively.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	descent - a movement downward change of location, travel - a movement through space that changes the location of something drop, fall - a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity; "it was a miracle that he survived the drop from that height" lightening - descent of the uterus into the pelvic cavity that occurs late in pregnancy; the fetus is said to have dropped set - the descent of a heavenly body below the horizon; "before the set of sun" cascade, shower - a sudden downpour (as of tears or sparks etc) likened to a rain shower; "a little shower of rose petals"; "a sudden cascade of sparks" sinking - a descent as through liquid (especially through water); "they still talk about the sinking of the Titanic" slide - (geology) the descent of a large mass of earth or rocks or snow etc.
	2.	descent - properties attributable to your ancestry; "he comes from good origins" extraction, origin ancestry, filiation, lineage, derivation - inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline full blood - descent from parents both of one pure breed
	3.	descent - the act of changing your location in a downward direction movement, move, motion - the act of changing location from one place to another; "police controlled the motion of the crowd"; "the movement of people from the farms to the cities"; "his move put him directly in my path" parachuting, jump - descent with a parachute; "he had done a lot of parachuting in the army" nose dive, nosedive, dive - a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft abseil, rappel - (mountaineering) a descent of a vertical cliff or wall made by using a doubled rope that is fixed to a higher point and wrapped around the body swoop - a swift descent through the air crash dive - a rapid descent by a submarine drop - the act of dropping something; "they expected the drop would be successful" collapse, flop - the act of throwing yourself down; "he landed on the bed with a great flop"
	4.	descent - the kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors filiation, line of descent, lineage family relationship, kinship, relationship - (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption bilateral descent - line of descent traced through both the maternal and paternal sides of the family unilateral descent - line of descent traced through one side of the family
	5.	descent - a downward slope or bend declivity, downslope, declination, declension, decline, fall downhill - the downward slope of a hill incline, slope, side - an elevated geological formation; "he climbed the steep slope"; "the house was built on the side of a mountain" steep - a steep place (as on a hill) acclivity, ascent, climb, upgrade, raise, rise - an upward slope or grade (as in a road); "the car couldn't make it up the rise"
	6.	descent - the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors" ancestry, blood line, bloodline, lineage, pedigree, stemma, line of descent, parentage, blood, origin, stock, line kinfolk, kinsfolk, phratry, family line, sept, folk, family - people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower" side - a family line of descent; "he gets his brains from his father's side" family tree, genealogy - successive generations of kin

descent

noun

1. fall, drop, plunge, coming down, swoop The airplane crashed on its descent into the airport.

2. slope, drop, dip, incline, slant, declination, declivity On the descents, cyclists freewheel past cars.

3. decline, deterioration, degradation, decadence, degeneration, debasement his swift descent from respected academic to homeless derelict

4. origin, extraction, ancestry, lineage, family tree, parentage, heredity, genealogy, derivation All the contributors were of foreign descent.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

descent

noun

1. The act of dropping from a height:

drop, fall.

2. A downward slope or distance:

decline, declivity, drop, fall, pitch.

3. One's ancestors or their character or one's ancestral derivation:

ancestry, birth, blood, bloodline, extraction, family, genealogy, line, lineage, origin, parentage, pedigree, seed, stock.

4. A sudden drop to a lower condition or status:

comedown, down, downfall, downgrade.

5. A usually swift downward trend, as in prices:

decline, dip, dive, downslide, downswing, downtrend, downturn, drop, drop-off, fall, nosedive, plunge, skid, slide, slump, tumble.

Translations

أصْل، نَسَب، سُلالَهإنْحِدارمُنْحَدَر

původsestupspádsvahpád

afstamningnedstigningskrænt

Herkunft Abstammung Abstieg Abwind Senkung

ascendencia bajada descenso pendiente cuesta

syntyperä

descente origine pente abaissement descendance

nagibobronakpadpadinapodrijetlo

ætternibrekkaniîurferî, niîurkoma

calata discendenza discesa

afkomst herkomst

arv avstamning nedoverbakke nedstigning

pochodzenie zejście

съезд понижение происхождение спуск схождение

zostup

spust

atabayır inişiniş soy

下降斜坡血统

descent

[dɪˈsent] N

1. (= going down) → descenso m, bajada f; (= slope) → cuesta f, pendiente f; (= fall) → descenso m (in de)

2. (= raid) → ataque m (on sobre) → incursión f (on en)

3. (= ancestry) → ascendencia f (from de) of Italian descent → de ascendencia italiana
line of descent → linaje m
he claimed descent from Peter the Great → afirmaba descender de Pedro el Grande

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

descent

[dɪˈsɛnt] n

(= journey down) → descente f

[plane] → descente f
on its descent → dans sa descente
to make its descent → entamer sa descente

(= origin) → origine f
to be of European descent → être d'origine européenne

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

descent

(= going down, of person) → Hinuntergehen nt, → Absteigen nt; (from mountain, of plane, into underworld) → Abstieg m; (of gymnast) → Abgang m; (= slope: of road) → Abfall m; during the descent of the mountain → während des Abstiegs vom Berg; the road made a sharp descent → die Straße fiel steil ab; descent by parachute → Fallschirmabsprung m; the descent from the cross (Art, Rel) → die Kreuzabnahme

(= ancestry) → Abstammung f, → Herkunft f; of noble descent → von adliger Abstammung or Herkunft; he claims direct descent from … → er behauptet, direkt von … abzustammen

(of property) → Vererbung f, → Übertragung f (→ to auf +acc); (of customs) → Überlieferung f (→ to auf +acc)

(Mil, fig, = attack) → Überfall m (→ on auf +acc)

(inf: = visit) → Überfall m (inf)

(fig, into crime etc) → Absinken nt (→ into in +acc); (into chaos, civil war, madness) → Versinken nt (→ into in +acc)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

descent

[dɪˈsɛnt] n (going down) → discesa; (ancestry) descent (from) → discendenza (da) → origine f (da)

descend

(diˈsend) verb

1. to go or climb down from a higher place or position. He descended the staircase.

2. to slope downwards. The hills descend to the sea.

3. (with on) to make a sudden attack on. The soldiers descended on the helpless villagers.

deˈscendant noun

the child, grandchild, great-grandchild etc of a person. This is a photograph of my grandmother with all her descendants.

deˈscent (-t) noun

1. the act of descending. The descent of the hill was quickly completed.

2. a slope. That is a steep descent.

3. family; ancestry. She is of royal descent.

be descended from

to be a descendant of.

the noun descendant ends in -ant (not -ent).

de·scent

n. descenso, bajada; descendencia, sucesión.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

'By jumping from the top of the fall, if there be no other way,' unhesitatingly replied my companion: 'it will be much the quickest way of descent; but as you are not quite as active as I am, we will try some other way.'

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The modified offspring from the later and more highly improved branches in the lines of descent, will, it is probable, often take the place of, and so destroy, the earlier and less improved branches: this is represented in the diagram by some of the lower branches not reaching to the upper horizontal lines.

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The thought came gently and stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained full appreciation; but just as my spirit came at length properly to feel and entertain it, the figures of the judges vanished, as if magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in a mad rushing descent as of the soul into Hades.

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I resolved I would make the descent without further waste of time, and started out in the early morning towards a well near the ruins of granite and aluminium.

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It passed away too quickly, and we began to prepare for the descent.

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"My means of ascent and descent consist simply in dilating or contracting the gas that is in the balloon by the application of different temperatures, and here is the method of obtaining that result.

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They therefore chose as leaders Mice that were most renowned for their family descent, strength, and counsel, as well as those most noted for their courage in the fight, so that they might be better marshaled in battle array and formed into troops, regiments, and battalions.

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So saying, he let fall a great tear, which, encountering in its descent a current of cold air, was congealed into a hail-stone.

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The Abbot, himself of ancient Saxon descent, received the noble Saxons with the profuse and exuberant hospitality of their nation, wherein they indulged to a late, or rather an early hour; nor did they take leave of their reverend host the next morning until they had shared with him a sumptuous refection.

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The only propelling force it ever exhibited, was the mere impetus acquired from the descent of the inclined plane ; and this impetus carried the machine farther when the vanes were at rest, than when they were in motion - a fact which sufficiently demonstrates their inutility ; and in the absence of the propelling, which was also the sustaining power, the whole fabric would necessarily descend.

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Strait of Magellan -- Port Famine -- Ascent of Mount Tarn -- Forests -- Edible Fungus -- Zoology -- Great Sea-weed -- Leave Tierra del Fuego -- Climate -- Fruit-trees and Productions of the Southern Coasts -- Height of Snow-line on the Cordillera -- Descent of Glaciers to the Sea -- Icebergs formed -- Transportal of Boulders -- Climate and Productions of the Antarctic Islands -- Preservation of Frozen Carcasses -- Recapitulation.

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As, unfortunately, the Queen's highway ran down in tortuous descent to the handful of fishermen's cottages that had clung there limpet-like for ages, there was always a chance of such a stray visitation; but it was remote, and the whole place, hand and heart, was in the pocket of my lord.