descendant Hear it!

descendant Definition

de·scend·ant (dē sen′dənt, di-)

adjective

descending
also descendent de·scend′·ent

Etymology: ME descendaunt < OFr descendant < L descendens, prp. of descendere: see descend

noun

  1. a person who is an offspring, however remote, of a certain ancestor, family, group, etc.
  2. something that derives from an earlier form
descendant Law Definition

n

A person’s child, grandchild, great-grandchild, or other offspring in the direct line of descent.
descendant Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • settler: The descendants of these settlers ran Egypt for a thousand years, right down to the Arab conquest.
  • slave: A pressure group of " descendants of slaves " took him to court for " disputing a crime against humanity " .
  • immigrant: The descendants of French immigrants, these people lived in small farming villages without healthcare or contraception.
  • ancestor: This chart may also be used to determine the relationship between ANY TWO DESCENDANTS of a common ancestor.
  • inhabitant: In addition interviews with residents, some of whom were descendants of the original inhabitants, were also conducted.
  • node: The descendants of a node are the children of the node and the descendants of the children of the node.

Converse of subject

  • inhabit: This area is now inhabited by the descendants of European settlers and African slaves who arrived just 500 years ago.

Converse of object

  • trace: Matthew traces the descendants of Abraham, all the way from Abraham himself, down to Joseph.
  • survive: Their last surviving descendant was said to have died in the 19th century.
  • live: Burials are not disturbed where there is a possibility of living descendants.
  • leave: He will then leave more descendants who in turn do not act for the group.
  • seek: New member Ian Sewell has traced his family back to Thomas Sewell in Munton Essex around 1772 and was seeking descendants.

Adjective modifier

  • lineal: A further change was introduced in 1805 when the Order was extended to include lineal descendants of George II.
  • velvet-eyed: The velvet-eyed descendant of Eve shot a fearful glance at him and continued, still casually tracing invisible arabesques with her foil's point.
  • direct: The Scottish Blues Brothers are direct descendants of old Blind Doug himself.
  • male: His male descendants range around the room down to my brother.
  • distant: Or if you are from central England or East Anglia, you could be a distant descendant of the Saxons and Angles.
  • immediate: Were some of Vortigern's immediate descendants still in positions of authority, still to be reckoned with?

Noun used with modifier

  • living: His only living descendant in our day was an elderly Mr Jacob, who kept the small village store.
  • generation: His Eminence is the 26th generation descendant of Shinran himself.