▪ I. descending, vbl. n.
(dɪˈsɛndɪŋ)
[f. descend v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb descend (q.v.); descent, going down.
| c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xviii. 56 At the descendyng of theyr enemyes to lande. 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bath Pref. 2 Some with..Descendings, Ascendings the partes wasted, etc. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 146 A precipice, downe which is no descending. 1690 Locke Govt. i. xi. (Rtldg.) 119 The descending and conveyance down of Adam's..dominion to posterity. 1802 Southey Poems, Ode Astron., All Ether laugh'd with thy descending. |
† 2. concr. A downward slope, declivity, descent.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos lv. 152 Atte the descendynge of the hille. 1585 J. B. tr. Viret's Sch. Beastes B iij, The first descending..is..croked and with many turninges. |
† b. Extension downwards. Obs.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. x. 50 The height or eleuation..should answer the descending or depth. |
▪ II. descending, ppl. a.
(dɪˈsɛndɪŋ)
[f. descend v. + -ing2.]
That descends.
1. lit. Moving downwards, coming down.
| a 1700 Dryden (J.), He cleft his head with one descending blow. 1799 Colebrooke in Life (1873) 423 The resin exudes from the descending sap. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil. 215 The descending column..falls..in a closed cistern. |
2. transf. Directed or extending downwards; esp. in Anat., Bot., etc., as descending aorta, colon, axis, ovule, etc. (opp. to ascending ppl. a. 3).
| 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1756) I. 92 The ascending or descending Trunk of the Aorta. 1810 Southey Kehama xvi. viii, Descending steps, which in the living stone Were hewn. 1869 Oliver Indian Bot. i. i. 15 The root being the descending, the stem the ascending portion of the axis. |
b. Typogr. Applied to letters that have a tail or stem extending below the line. (Cf. ascending ppl. a. 1 b.)
| 1676 Moxon Print Lett. 6 The Bottom-line is the line that bounds the bottom of the Descending Letters. 1889 T. MacKellar Amer. Printer 61 There are..descending letters in both Roman and Italic. |
c. Her. = descendant a. 1 c; esp. having the head turned toward the base of the shield.
3. fig. Proceeding to what is lower in position or value, or later in order (cf. descend v. 5); in Math. of series: Proceeding from higher to lower quantities or powers; thus 8, 4, 2, 1, ½, etc. is a descending series in geometrical progression.
| 1642 Jer. Taylor Episc. (1647) 41 Schisms and Heresies..should multiply in descending ages. 1816 tr. Lacroix's Diff. & Int. Calculus 234 If we wished to have a descending series with respect to x, we must give the proposed differential the form [etc.]. 1822 Shelley Hellas 350 To stem the torrent of descending time. 1874 Morley Compromise (1886) 28 The establishment..of an ascending and descending order among the facts. |
4. Falling in pitch, stress, or other physical quality.
descending rhythm, a rhythm composed of feet in which the accented syllable is followed by the unaccented as in the trochee, dactyle, etc. descending diphthong = falling diphthong q.v.
5. descending node (Astron.): that node of a planet's orbit at which it passes from north to south of the ecliptic.
| 1696 Whiston Th. Earth ii. (1722) 188 Its descending Node was then also in..due Position. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Descending latitude, is the latitude of a planet in its return from the nodes to the equator. 1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sc. ii. vii. 159 The Descending Node, marked thus {descnode}. 1868 Lockyer Heavens (ed. 3) 170. |
Hence deˈscendingly adv.
| 1614 Sylvester Du Bartas, Bethulia's Rescue iv. 368 Two twinkling Sparks, Two sprightfull Jetty eyes..'Twixt these two Suns, down from this liberal front, Descendingly ascends a pretty Mount. 1882 Proctor in Knowledge 24 Mar. 449 The Feast of Tabernacles was..ruled by the passage of the sun over the equator descendingly. |