descend

Pronunciation: /dəˈsɛnd/

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
  2. verb come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example
  3. verb do something that one considers to be below one's dignity

Etymology

PIE word *de 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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

fall, go down, come down

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
travel
Narrower (hyponyms)
flop, pounce, drop, avalanche, sink, pitch
Opposite (antonyms)
ascend, rise

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading

Nice save! Solidify it with review →