descend

[dih-send] /dɪˈsɛnd/
verb (used without object)
1.
to go or pass from a higher to a lower place; move or come down:
to descend from the mountaintop.
2.
to pass from higher to lower in any scale or series.
3.
to go from generals to particulars, as in a discussion.
4.
to slope, tend, or lead downward:
The path descends to the pond.
5.
to be inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family:
The title descends through eldest sons.
6.
to have a specific person or family among one's ancestors (usually followed by from):
He is descended from Cromwell.
7.
to be derived from something remote in time, especially through continuous transmission:
This festival descends from a druidic rite.
8.
to approach or pounce upon, especially in a greedy or hasty manner (followed by on or upon):
Thrill-seekers descended upon the scene of the crime.
9.
to settle, as a cloud or vapor.
10.
to appear or become manifest, as a supernatural being, state of mind, etc.:
Jupiter descended to humankind.
11.
to attack, especially with violence and suddenness (usually followed by on or upon):
to descend upon enemy soldiers.
12.
to sink or come down from a certain intellectual, moral, or social standard:
He would never descend to baseness.
13.
Astronomy. to move toward the horizon, as the sun or a star.
verb (used with object)
14.
to move downward upon or along; go or climb down (stairs, a hill, etc.).
15.
to extend or lead down along:
The path descends the hill.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English descenden < Old French descendre < Latin dēscendere, equivalent to dē- de- + -scendere, combining form of scandere to climb; cf. scansion
Related forms
descendingly, adverb
predescend, verb
redescend, verb
undescended, adjective
undescending, adjective
Examples from the web for descend
  • Elephant seals descend on California beaches for breeding season.
  • Temperatures are mild here, but severe winters descend at times.
  • In this illustrated novel, clueless aliens descend on a quiet town.
  • Elephant seals descendon California beaches for breeding season.
  • So the principal problem of ballooning is how to alter the craft's buoyancy in order to ascend and descend at will.
  • Even in the so-called dry seasons three to four inches of rain may descend monthly, out of an annual mean of perhaps 90 inches.
  • But once you get inside, you immediately descend down an 80-foot (24-meter) pit.
  • To get there, they will have to descend like spelunkers.
  • Some 5000 pilgrims annually descend the bone-jarring dirt road to the monastery.
  • They inevitably descend into boringness and awkward silence.
British Dictionary definitions for descend

descend

/dɪˈsɛnd/
verb (mainly intransitive)
1.
(also transitive) to move, pass, or go down (a hill, slope, staircase, etc)
2.
(of a hill, slope, or path) to lead or extend down; slope; incline
3.
to move to a lower level, pitch, etc; fall
4.
(often foll by from) to be connected by a blood relationship (to a dead or extinct individual, race, species, etc)
5.
to be passed on by parents or ancestors; be inherited
6.
to sink or come down in morals or behaviour; lower oneself
7.
often foll by on or upon. to arrive or attack in a sudden or overwhelming way: their relatives descended upon them last week
8.
(of the sun, moon, etc) to move towards the horizon
Derived Forms
descendable, adjective
Word Origin
C13: from Old French descendre, from Latin dēscendere, from de- + scandere to climb; see scan
Word Origin and History for descend
v.

c.1300, from Old French descendre (10c.) "descend, dismount; fall into; originate in," from Latin descendere "come down, descend, sink," from de- "down" (see de-) + scandere "to climb," from PIE root *skand- "jump" (see scan (v.)). Sense of "originate" is late 14c. in English. Related: Descended; descending.