▪ I. ascent
(əˈsɛnt)
Also 7 assent.
[(Not in Fr.) f. ascend v., on the analogy of descent (see quot. 1628 in 3), a. F. descente, itself an imitative formation on descendre, after etymological forms like vente, attente, f. vendre, attendre: L. vendita gave F. vente, but L. ascensa gave F. ascense, Eng. ascence.]
1. gen. The act of ascending, mounting, or soaring up; upward movement, rise.
| 1614 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 301 The first degree of his ascent. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 224 To him with swift ascent he up return'd. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Ascent of Fluids is particularly understood of their rising above their own level. 1864 R. Chambers Bk. Days II. 347 He had effected an ascent [in a balloon] at Edinburgh. |
b. fig. Rise in thought, estimation, characteristic quality, social station, etc.; advancement.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 28 His assent is not by such easie degrees. 1744 Harris Three Treat. iii. ii. (1765) 225 What higher Combinations..subsist, we know not. Their Gradation and Ascent 'tis impossible we should discover. 1790 Gibbon Misc. Wks. (1814) III. 512 His ascent to one of the most eminent dignities of the republic. 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. xx. §23. 368 French and English art in precipitate decline, Italian in steady ascent. |
2. esp. The act of climbing or travelling up; the going up a mountain, stairs, a river, etc.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Mountain, Called the needle Mountain..being supposed impracticable to the ascent of any one. 1844 Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 127 We began the ascent of the Simplon that same night. 1850 P. Cunningham Handbk. Lond. 384 The rest of the ascent is a dirty and somewhat fatiguing task. |
b. fig.
| 1644 Milton Educ. (1738) 136 The right path of a virtuous and noble education; laborious indeed at the first ascent. 1879 Tennyson Lover's T. 29 To both there came The joy of life in steepness overcome, And victories of ascent. |
3. A going back in time or in order of genealogical succession; † concr. a single step back in genealogy (obs.).
| 1628 Coke On Litt. 11 a, Hee commeth to the land by collateral discent and not by lineall ascent [Littleton, par collateral discent, et nemy par lineall ascention; tr. 1574 discent..ascension]. 1654 Gayton Fest. Notes ii. v. 57 Shee could scarce run two ascents without the help of a Town or Parish, where her grandfather was found. 1877 W. Lytteil Landm. iv. ii. 191 So does our ascent into the Past discover a beauty..till then unperceived. |
4. Method or way of ascending.
| 1600 Holland Livy 995 (R.) Dangerous places, steepe and hard of ascent. 1712 Parnell Spect. No. 460 ¶3 A Hill, green, flowery, and of an easy ascent. 1850 P. Cunningham Handbk. Lond. 384 The ascent to the ball is by 616 steps. |
5. concr. A way by which one may ascend; upward slope, acclivity; a flight of steps.
| 1611 Bible 1 Kings x. 5 His ascent by which hee went vp vnto the house of the Lord. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 545 Winding with one ascent Accessible from Earth. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Garden, A gentle Ascent or a Plain are healthy Expositions. 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 56 The ascent of steps from the hall. c 1854 Stanley Sinai & Pal. iii. 190 Up that long ascent He came. |
† 6. A rising ground, an eminence. Obs.
| 1663 Flagellum or O. Cromwell (1672) 181 There was an Ascent raised where a Chair and Canopy of State was set. a 1742 Bentley (J.) Diversified with depressed valleys and swelling ascents. |
¶ For ascendant.
| ? c 1400 Chaucer Wife's Prol. (Harl. MS.) 613 Myn ascent was Taur, and Mars therinne. 1686 W. de Britaine Hum. Prud. §20 Jupiter is Lord of that Ascent. |
▪ II. ascent
obs. form of assent.