- to move from a higher to a lower place; come down or go down
- to pass from an earlier to a later time, from greater to less, from general to particular, etc.
- to slope or extend downward
- to come down (from a source, as from an ancestor): usually with auxiliary be: he is descended from pioneers
- to pass by inheritance or heredity: the estate descended to the nephew
- to lower oneself or stoop (to some act)
- to make a sudden attack, raid, or visit (on or upon)
- Astron. to move toward the horizon
- Music to move down the scale
Origin of descend
Middle English descenden from Old French descendre from Classical Latin descendere, to climb down, fall from de-, down + scandere, to climb from uncertain or unknown; perhaps Indo-European base an unverified form skend-, an unverified form skand-, to leap from source Classical Greek skandalon (from source scandal), Sanskrit skandati, (he) leaps to move, step, or pass down or down along
