Lexic.us

Definition of Descend

1. Verb. Move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way. "The airplane is sure to descend "; "Her hand went up and then fell again"

2. Verb. Come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example. "He comes from humble origins"

3. Verb. Do something that one considers to be below one's dignity.

4. Verb. Come as if by falling. "Silence fell"

Definition of Descend

1. v. i. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend.

2. v. t. To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder.

Definition of Descend

1. Verb. (intransitive) To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward ¹

2. Verb. (intransitive) To enter mentally; to retire. [Poetic] ¹

3. Verb. (intransitive) To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon. ¹

4. Verb. (intransitive) To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he '''descended''' from his high estate. ¹

5. Verb. (intransitive) To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered. ¹

6. Verb. (intransitive) To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown '''descends''' to the heir. ¹

7. Verb. (intransitive anatomy) To move toward the south, or to the southward. ¹

8. Verb. (intransitive music) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone. ¹

9. Verb. (transitive) To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they '''descended''' the river in boats; to descend a ladder. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Descend

1. to come or go down [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Descend

1. 1. To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; the opposite of ascend. "The rain descended, and the floods came." (Matt. Vii. 25) "We will here descend to matters of later date." (Fuller) 2. To enter mentally; to retire. "[He] with holiest meditations fed, Into himself descended." (Milton) 3. To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; with on or upon. "And on the suitors let thy wrath descend." (Pope) 4. To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate. 5. To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered. 6. To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir. 7. To move toward the south, or to the southward. 8. To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone. Origin: F. Descendre, L. Descendere, descensum; de- + scandere to climb. See Scan. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Descend

descaler descalers descales descaling descant descant on descanted descanter descanters descanting

descants descarga descemet's membrane descemetitis descemetocele descend (current term) descendable descendant descendants descended

descendence descendences descendency descendens descendens cervicalis descendens hypoglossi descendent descendents descender descenders

Literary usage of Descend

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1843)
"The children of Tacitus and Florianus were permitted to descend into a private station, and to mingle with the general mass of the people. ..."

2. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1858)
"Then parasite creepers and climbers rise up in columns, shoot over arch after arch, and again descend in every variety of Gothic ..."

3. United States Supreme Court Reports by Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court (1912)
"The ordinance declares that the land of non- See б WALL. residente, as well ae residents, shall descend, etc. The answer sets up that the petitioners are ..."

4. Looking Backward, 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy (1888)
"I hastened to descend to her. Kneeling before her, with my face in the dust, I confessed with tears how little was my worth to breathe the air of this ..."

5. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1905)
"On the east the Bitterroot Mountains descend from an elevation of 9000 feet to the level of the wide Bitterroot valley. From one end of the range to the ..."

Other Resources: