v., -scend·ed, -scend·ing, -scends. v.intr.
- To move from a higher to a lower place; come or go down.
- To slope, extend, or incline downward: "A rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain" (J.R.R. Tolkien).
- To come from an ancestor or ancestry: He was descended from a pioneer family.
- To come down from a source; derive: a tradition descending from colonial days.
- To pass by inheritance: The house has descended through four generations.
- To lower oneself; stoop: "She, the conqueror, had descended to the level of the conquered" (James Bryce).
- To proceed or progress downward, as in rank, pitch, or scale: titles listed in descending order of importance; notes that descended to the lower register.
- To arrive or attack in a sudden or an overwhelming manner: summer tourists descending on the seashore village.
- To move from a higher to a lower part of; go down.
- To get down from: "People descended the minibus that shuttled guests to the nearby . . . beach" (Howard Kaplan).
- To extend or proceed downward along: a road that descended the mountain in sharp curves.
[Middle English descenden, from Old French descendre, from Latin dēscendere : dē-, de- + scandere, to climb.]
descendible de·scend'i·ble or de·scend'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
