Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Descent
1.
The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.
2.
Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; – often followed by upon or on;
as, to make a
. descent
upon the enemyThe United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a
descent
upon their coasts. Jortin.
3.
Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc.
2.
Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction.
Dryden.
5.
(Law)
Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity.
Abbott.
6.
Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope;
as, a steep
. descent
7.
That which is descended; descendants; issue.
If care of our
Which must be born to certain woe.
descent
perplex us most,Which must be born to certain woe.
Milton.
8.
A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.
No man living is a thousand
descents
removed from Adam himself. Hooker.
9.
Lowest place; extreme downward place.
[R.]
Syn. – Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage; assault; invasion; attack.
Webster 1828 Edition
Descent
DESCENT
, n.1.
The act of descending; the act of passing from a higher to a lower place, by any form of motion, as by walking, riding, rolling, sliding, sinking or falling.2.
Inclination downward; obliquity; slope; declivity; as the descent of a hill, or a roof.3.
Progress downward; as the descent from higher to lower orders of beings.4.
Fall from a higher to a lower state or station.5.
A landing from ships; invasion of troops from the sea; as, to make a descent on Cuba.6.
A passing from an ancestor to an heir; transmission by succession or inheritance, as the descent of an estate or a title from the father to the son. Descent is lineal, when it proceeds directly from the father to the son, and from the son to the grandson; collateral, when it proceeds from a man to his brother, nephew or other collateral representative.7.
A proceeding from an original or progenitor. The Jews boast of their descent from Abraham. Hence,8.
Birth; extraction; lineage; as a noble descent.9.
A generation; a single degree in the scale of genealogy; distance from the common ancestor.No man is a thousand descents from Adam.
10.
Offspring; issue; descendants.The care of our descent perplexes most.
11.
A rank in the scale of subordination.12.
Lowest place.13.
In music, a passing from a note or sound to one more grave or less acute.Definition 2024
descent
descent
English
Noun
descent (plural descents)
- An instance of descending.
- We climbed the mountain with difficulty, but the descent was easier.
- 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
- The next one surrendered his bike, only for that, too, to give him a second flat as he started the descent.
- A way down.
- We had difficulty in finding the correct descent.
- A sloping passage or incline.
- The descent into the cavern was wet and slippery.
- Lineage or hereditary derivation.
- Our guide was of Welsh descent.
- A drop to a lower status or condition; decline. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- After that, the holiday went into a steep descent.
- (topology) A particular extension of the idea of gluing. See Descent (mathematics).
Usage notes
- Sometimes confused with decent.
Derived terms
Related terms
Antonyms
- (going down): ascent
Translations
instance of descending
way down
sloping passage or incline
lineage or hereditary derivation
|
drop to a lower status or condition
External links
- descent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- descent in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911