descended

noun

(archaic) Synonym of descent (“instance of descending; sloping incline or passage; way down; decline, etc.”).

verb

Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

(transitive) To pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon.

(transitive) Of a flight of stairs, a road, etc.: to lead down (a hill, a slope, etc.).

(intransitive) To physically move or pass from a higher to a lower place or position; to come or go down in any way, such as by climbing, falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to move downwards; to fall, to sink.

(astrology) Of a zodiac sign: to move away from the zenith towards the horizon; to sink; also, of a planet: to move to a place where it has less astrological significance.

(astronomy) Of a celestial body: to move away from the zenith towards the horizon; to sink; also, to move towards the south.

(biology, physiology) Of a body part: to move downwards, especially during development of the embryo; specifically, of the testes of a mammal: to move downwards from the abdominal cavity into the scrotum.

(intransitive) To slope or stretch downwards.

(intransitive, figurative) To come or go down, or reduce, in intensity or some other quality.

(intransitive, figurative) Of a physical thing (such as a a cloud or storm) or a (generally negative) immaterial thing (such as darkness, gloom, or silence): to settle upon and start to affect a person or place.

(intransitive, figurative) In speech or writing: to proceed from one matter to another; especially, to pass from more general or important to specific or less important matters to be considered.

(intransitive, figurative) Chiefly followed by into or to: of a situation: to become worse; to decline, to deteriorate.

(intransitive, figurative) Chiefly followed by on or upon: to make an attack or incursion, from or as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence.

(intransitive, figurative) Chiefly followed by on or upon: to arrive suddenly or unexpectedly, especially in a manner that causes disruption or inconvenience.

(intransitive, figurative) To come down to a humbler or less fortunate, or a worse or less virtuous, rank or state; to abase or lower oneself; to condescend or stoop to something.

(intransitive, figurative) (chiefly poetic or religion) Chiefly in the form descend into (or within) oneself: to mentally enter a state of (deep) meditation or thought; to retire.

(intransitive, figurative) (mathematics) Of a sequence or series: to proceed from higher to lower values.

(intransitive, figurative) (music) To pass from a higher to a lower note or tone; to fall in pitch.

Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.

(intransitive) Of a characteristic: to be transmitted from a parent to a child.

(intransitive, chiefly law) Of property, a right, etc.: to pass down to a generation, a person, etc., by inheritance.

(intransitive, often passive voice) Chiefly followed by from or (obsolete) of: to come down or derive from an ancestor or ancestral stock, or a source; to originate, to stem.

(transitive, archaic) To move (someone or something) from a higher to a lower place or position; to bring or send (someone or something) down.

(chemistry, obsolete) Of a liquid substance: to distil out from another substance and gather at the bottom of a container; also, to distil a substance to obtain another liquid substance in this manner.

(intransitive, chiefly historical) To alight from a carriage, a horse, etc.; also, to disembark from a vessel; to land.

(transitive, obsolete, rare) To trace (a lineage) from earlier to later generations.

Roots

scandoscend- · Latin · climb

Synonyms & related words for descended

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Words related to descended

Explore words related to descended — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include descends, descending, ascended, descent, come, declivitous, climbed, plummeted. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Where does descended come from?

The word descended breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root scend-, from Latin scando (“climb”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.