▪ I. descend, v.
(dɪˈsɛnd)
Also 4 dessende, disend, dyssente, decend, 4–7 discend(e, 4–6 descende, (5–6 dyscend), (6 desend). pa. tense and pple. descended; 4–5 descend, 5 discent, 6 discend.
[a. F. descend-re (11th c. in Littré) = Pr. deissendre, It. descendere, Sp. descender:—L. dēscendĕre, f. de- I. 1 + scandĕre to climb. In early times often treated as if the prefix were des- (q.v.) and the stem -cend, -send, -end, whence the variant spellings in dis-, dys-, de-.]
I. Intransitive senses.
* To move down or into a lower position.
1. a. To move or pass from a higher to a lower position in space; to come or go down, fall, sink. (The general word, including all kinds of downward motion, vertical or oblique; the opposite of ascend.)
| a 1325 Prose Psalter xlviii. 18 [xlix. 17] His glorie ne shal nouȝt descenden wyþ hym. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 626 As sone as þay arn borne bylyue In þe water of baptem þay dyssente. a 1330 Roland & V. 131 Þan decended a liȝtnesse, Doun riȝtes fram þe heuen blis. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 94 The moist droppes of the rein Descenden into middel erthe. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 143 Þat he may not discende downward. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 505 A man some tyme fro Jerusalem descendande. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 35 b, Those furious Rebells..descended downe their hil with such a furie. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 193, I passed to the Nile descending on it at my leasure to the sea. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxiii. 86 The water rebounded up so high that when it came to descend again it fell as small as dew. Ibid. lxi. 251 The two Priests descended from their Pulpits. 1728 Pemberton Newton's Philos. 194 The earth in moving round the sun is continually descending toward it. 1790 W. Wrighte Grotesque Archit. 7 The two wings..are each descended to by a flight of four steps. 1823 F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 19 From the heights of the mountain..immense avalanches often descend. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. iv. (ed. 5) 44 In the autumn of 799 Charles descended from the Alps once more. |
b. fig. said of immaterial agents, influences, etc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10884 (Cott.) And godds might in þe [sal] descend. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) ix. 36 Intill his awen heued his wikkidness schall descend. ? a 1500 Wycket (1828) p. xiv, Ye say that the manhoode of Christe descendeth into eche part of euery hoost. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 1012 And on the suitors let thy wrath descend. 1806 J. Forbes Lett. fr. France II. 400 The shades of evening began to descend. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus l. 10 Sleep nor quiet upon my eyes descended. |
† c. To disembark, land from a vessel; to alight from a horse, carriage, etc. Obs. (as a specific sense).
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 73 b, They ben in entencion for to descende in colchos. c 1489 [see descending vbl. n. 1]. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. i. 22 To schaw..How Troianis war discend in Latium. 1548 Hall Chron. 176 b, They left their horses, & discended to flight on fote. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 263 Having viewed the Iland fortified on all parts where he might descend. |
d. Astron., etc. Of a heavenly body: (a) To move towards the horizon, sink. (b) To move southwards; see also descending ppl. a. 5.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §12 Than fond I the [2] degree of libra..dessending on my west Orisonte. c 1500 Lancelot 972 The sone discending closit in the vest. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 23 The signes in equall tymes do ascend and descende. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 541 The setting Sun Slowly descended. 1690 Leybourn Curs. Math. 832 Mars..from the Northern limit..to {descnode}..is North descending. 1830 Hogg Flodden Field, Sol with broadened orb descending Left fierce warriors still contending. 1882 Sharpless Astron. 21 If these northern or circumpolar stars be watched..such as are to the west of the pole will descend. |
† e. to descend into or within oneself: to betake oneself to deep meditation or consideration. Obs.
| a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. (1846) I. 338 To move the hartis..of the trew servandis of God..to discend within thame selfis and deiplie to considder quhat shalbe the end of this pretended tyranny. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 11 Those Philosophers that..descended not into themselues, to know themselues and their nature. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 111 The while her Son..with holiest meditations fed, Into himself descended, and at once All his great work to come before him set. |
2. transf. To have a downward extension, direction, or slope; to slope or extend downwards.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. i. §4 A lyne þat cometh dessendinge fro the ryng down to the nethereste bordure. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxv. 259 It strecchethe toward the West..descendynge toward the litille Armenye. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 236 Their streetes either descend or ascend, which is verie troublesome. 1684 R. H. School Recreat. 120 The dash Lines..are added only when the Notes ascend above the Staff, or descend below it. 1798 H. Skrine Tours Wales 155 With a gateway at each extremity, as the hill descends. 1894 Christian World 27 Sep. 712/1 To your right..the fields descend from your feet to the Chesil Beach. |
| fig. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 445 See, how the order and chain of this government descends down by steps and degrees, from the Supreme God to the Earth and Men. |
3. a. To come down with or as a hostile force; to make an incursion or attack; to fall violently upon. (Cf. come down g.)
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas i. viii. (1544) 15 b, Zisara, which was discendid doun With a great hoost. 1548 Hall Chron. 227 b, The kyng of England your master, is neither descended in these partes of his owne fre mocion, nor yet of us requyred. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 188 That the Turke woulde descend upon his realme of Naples. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid i. 527 Not upon Libya's hearths to descend with sword and with fire. |
b. to descend on or descend upon: to visit unexpectedly; freq. applied to unwanted visitors.
| 1916 A. Huxley Lett. (1969) 98, I have at the moment staying with me in Balliol young Robert Nichols, who descended on me for a day or two. 1922 Ibid. 208 Aunt Ethel has wisely not divulged the fact that she is going to be at Como..otherwise Aunt N would have been sure to descend upon her. 1971 R. Lewis Error of Judgment i. 12 What a trial it must be for her..to have an HMI descend on the college. |
† 4. fig. To submit, yield. Obs. rare.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 134 In pes with ȝow to lyue, & at ȝour conseil descend. Ibid. 270 To what manere of pes þe parties wille descend. |
5. To proceed (in discourse or writing) to something subsequent in time or order, or (esp.) from generals to particulars.
| 1340 Ayenb. 123 Erþan ich decendi to þe uirtues þet byeþ contraries to þe zeue zennes. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 513 To discende doun in specialte, fful mane articlis..ben openly contrarie to þe apostlis reule. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 406 From thence hee descendeth to particular affayres. a 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 461 By these degrees did our Sauiour discend to this speech. 1630 Prynne Anti-Armin. 79 Descend we unto Edward the VI his pious Raigne. 1657 J. Smith Myst. Rhet. A b, Whereby we having spoken of a thing in general, descend unto particulars. 1797 Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 380 But let us descend to particulars. 1827 Macaulay Ess., Machiavelli (1854) 32/1 Historians rarely descend to those details from which alone the real state of a community can be collected. |
6. To come down ideally, mentally, or morally; to condescend, stoop (to do something); usually in bad sense, to stoop to something unworthy.
| 1554–9 T. Waterton in Songs & Ball. Ph. & Mary (1860) 9 Hath made wronge ryght, and from the truth desendyd. 1608 Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. i. 54 If..he descend to disports of chance, his games shall never make him..pale with feare. 1626 in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 225 He hath descended to make this Explanation. 1707 Norris Treat. Humility iii. 99 To see men..descend to the meanest and unworthiest compliances. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 208 ¶3, I have seldom descended to the arts by which favour is obtained. 1813 Byron Giaour xxxii, Not oft to smile descendeth he. 1829 Blackw. Mag. XXVI. 599 Wordsworth..descends to such babyisms. 1853 Lynch Self-Improv. v. 129 A man should never descend to his company, but he should condescend to it. |
7. a. To go or come down, fall, or sink, in any scale.
| 1608–11 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vowes ii. §78 Winter comes on softly, first by colde dewes, then hoare frostes, untill at last it descende to the hardest weather of all. a 1625 Fletcher False One v, ii, Thy glories now have touch'd the highest point, And must descend. |
b. Music. To proceed to a lower note; to go down the scale.
| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 81 It is vnpossible to ascende or descende in continuall deduction without a discord. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. iii. 4 If the Notes descend a second. 1706 A. Bedford Temple Mus. ix. 176 A Tune, which consisted of only Three Notes in Compass, Rising gradually in the first Part, and descending..in the Second. 1848 Rimbault First Bk. Piano 35 In the Major Scale the two semitones retain their situations, both ascending and descending. |
c. Math. Of series: To proceed from higher to lower quantities or powers. See descending ppl. a. 3.
| 1876 E. Brooks Philos. Arith. 347 The sum of the terms of an infinite series descending equals the first term divided by 1 minus the rate. |
** To come down by generation or inheritance.
8. To be derived in the way of generation; to come of, spring from (an ancestor or ancestral stock). a. simply to descend (from or of). Now rare in active voice.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 61 Ony male That were in lyne ewyn descendand. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. xvii. 2 Fra Sem discendand lynealy. 1509 Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (1876) 290 They..which descended of noble lygnage. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 241 Thou should'st haue better pleas'd me with this deede, Hadst thou descended from another house. 1780 Johnson L.P., Congreve, William Congreve descended from a family in Staffordshire. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. (1846) IV. xli. 36 Although Theodatus descended from a race of heroes. |
b. Now nearly always in passive, to be descended (from, † of).
| c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 64. 1399 Rolls of Parlt. III. 423/1, I Henry of Lancastre..am disendit by right lyne of the Blode comyng from the gude lord Kyng Henry therde. c 1470 Harding Chron. (Lansd. MS. 200 fol. 1) So lynyall of his generacioun, Ȝe bene discent. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ii. 54 O ȝe dour pepill discend from Dardanus. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 82 b, Sayd to bee descended of Gentlemen. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 674 If a dog be not wel descended..there can be little hope of his goodnesse. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 78 ¶8 We are descended of ancient Families. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 357 Such other collateral relations as were descended from the person who first acquired it. |
c. fig. To be derived, originate. (Const. as in a and b.)
| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 21 Contumacy descendend of swilk crime. 1645 N. Stone Enchir. Fortif. 81 It would be vain to write the Etymologies of each word, much lesse those descended of the Greeke. a 1726 Collier Agst. Despair (J.), Despair descends from a mean original; the offspring of fear, laziness, and impatience. |
† d. trans. To trace down (lineage). Obs. rare.
| 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bath, Whose Genealogie..may lineally be descended to your Honour. |
9. a. intr. Of property, privileges, etc.: To come down by way of inheritance; to pass to an heir.
| 1486 Bk. St. Alban's, Her. C viij b, Bot the possessionis & the patrimonyes descendid to other men. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 13 The premisses with ther appurtenaunces decended unto John last Duke of Norff. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §93. 353 The Crowne and Kingdome by just and unquestionable title descended on her. 1667 Duchess of Newcastle Life Dk. N. (1886) 138 A good estate in the west, which afterwards descended upon my Lord. 1668 Hale Pref. Rolle's Abridgem. 7 Lands in Fee-simple discend to the Uncle and not immediately to the Father. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 445 The defendant..pleaded..that the said reversion descended. |
b. transf. Of personal qualities, etc.: To pass by heredity; to be transmitted to offspring.
| 1548 Hall Chron. 226 Of a certayne privie canker engendered in the hartes of their forefathers..and after by lyneall succession descended into the stomackes of their nephewes. 1713 Steele Englishman No. 28. 182 The eternal Mark of having had a wicked Ancestor descends to his Posterity. 1843 Lever J. Hinton iv. (1878) 20 Our principles may come from our fathers; our prejudices certainly descend from the female branch. |
II. Transitive senses. [Not in L.; both in Fr.]
† 10. a. (causal.) To cause to descend; to bring or send down. Obs.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 21/1 Assoylle the synnars whan thou descendest into helle them of thy partye. 1509 Hawes Past Pleas. xxvii. xxi, I shew my power in every sundry wyse, Some to descende and on some to aryse. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. xiii. 22 As steps that descend us towards our Graues. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iii. iv. 267 The Seminal Tincture of the Herb..being again descended by Dews or Rain upon the..Earth. |
| fig. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man iii. (1603) 265 Christ..descended himselfe of the greatest nobilitie that ever was in this world. |
† b. Old Chem. To distil ‘by descent’; see descent 1 d. Obs.
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. Ep. in Ashm. (1652) 115 First Calcine, and after that Putrefye, Dyssolve, Dystill, Sublyme, Descende, and Fyxe. |
11. To go or come down (a hill, wall, flight of steps, etc.); to pass downwards over, along, or through (a space).
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 49 Descending the lists of a second combate. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 122 With a ladder of cords..speedily descended the walls. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 606 They both descend the Hill. 1799 Colebrooke in Life (1873) 437 Laden on canoes and small boats, to descend the Mahánad{iacu}. 1807 Hutton Course Math. II. 151 To find the space descended by a body in 7 seconds. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 221 The two women descended the steps. |
▪ II. † deˈscend, n. Obs. rare.
In 6 dyssende.
[f. prec. vb.]
A descent; a downward slope.
| 1519 Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 31 All wattersewers and the dyssendis þer off..be dykid. |