descend
verb
Simple meaning
To move from a higher place to a lower one.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihsehndSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪˈsɛnd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example
“She was descended from an old Italian noble family.”
transitive
To pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon.
transitive
Of a flight of stairs, a road, etc.: to lead down (a hill, a slope, etc.).
intransitive
To physically move or pass from a higher to a lower place or position; to come or go down in any way, such as by climbing, falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to move downwards; to fall, to sink.
intransitivefigurative
To come or go down, or reduce, in intensity or some other quality.
intransitive
To slope or stretch downwards.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example
Used this way, descend is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in relationships contexts.
“She was descended from an old Italian noble family.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Relationships
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use descend
- “She was descended from an old Italian noble family.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Coming down or downward.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The descending part of the aorta that branches into the thoracic and abdominal aortae.
The part of the large intestine that descends from the transverse colon to the sigmoid colon.
The point at which an orbit crosses the ecliptic plane going south.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A person considered as descended from some ancestor.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.