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)

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:

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

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:

2. A downward slope or distance:

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:

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

syntyperä

nagibobronakpadpadinapodrijetlo

ætternibrekkaniîurferî, niîurkoma

zostup

spust

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

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

descent

(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

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.