I. də̇ˈsent, dēˈ- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French descente, from descendre to descend — more at descend
1. : the act or process of descending from a higher to a lower level, rank, or state
a parachute descent
during their descent of the ski run
some thirty-two separate rapids and cataracts in its final furious descent — Tom Marvel
descent by chromatic intervals
ascent and descent between the physical and spiritual worlds — Times Literary Supplement
2.
a. : a decline or comedown in station, respectability, or living conditions
the descent to being junior partners of the newcomer to world power — D.W.Brogan
descent of the family to actual shabbiness
b. : a stepping down or stooping to an inferior level (as of intellectual elevation, dignity, self-respect)
look around among my books for a further descent from philosophy to literature — O.W.Holmes †1935
descent from self-justification to self-deception
a sudden descent … from the sublimity of his highfalutin critical terminology — Times Literary Supplement
c. logic : passage from the more general to the more particular
3.
a. : derivation from an ancestor : birth
only three alternatives are known, namely, patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral descent , and every culture incorporates one of these rules or some combination thereof — G.P.Murdock
usually : the established connection between an individual and his progenitors or the stock from which he is descended : extraction , lineage
of Pilgrim stock, eighth in descent through his mother from a governor of the colony
people of Polish descent
b. obsolete : descendant
our descent … born to certain woe, devoured by death — John Milton
c. : transmission or devolution of an estate by inheritance usually but not necessarily in the descending line
d. : the fact or process of originating by generation from an ancestral stock (as a species or genus)
e. : the shaping or development in nature and character by transmission from a source : derivation , origination
the home of an active legal science which could trace a faint but sure descent from Roman law — R.W.Southern
there was a line of descent from these ideas to the Fascist movement — Cecil Sprigge
native American voices tracing their descent from the Know-Nothings of yesterday — T.H.White b.1915
4.
a. : an inclination downward : an inclined or sloping surface : declivity
it appears that the water is broken nowhere by striking against the rocks, and that therefore the descent is perpendicular — Anthony Trollope
b. : a descending way (as a downgrade or stairway)
c. obsolete : the lowest part
from the extremest upward of thy head to the descent and dust below thy foot — Shakespeare
5.
a. : a sudden disconcerting appearance (as for a visit)
unprepared for the descent of his in-laws
b. : a hostile raid or predatory assault
the descent of the Assyrians upon Israel
descent of the locusts
6. : a step downward in a scale of gradation ; specifically : one generation in an ancestral line or genealogical scale
his pedigree shows 11 descents
7. : a former method of distillation in which the material was heated in a vessel having its outlet underneath so that the vapors produced were forced to descend
II. (ˈ)dē|sent transitive verb
Etymology: de- + scent (n.)
: to rid of scent