descend

/dɪˈsɛnd/

/dɪˈsɛnd/

Other forms: descended; descending; descends

In its simplest sense, descend means to go or move downward, but there are a couple of subtle variations on this theme. Yes, a bird can descend from the sky, but also, humans are descended from prehistoric ancestors.

If you've ever heard a pilot say "prepare for our descent", then you know that only one letter separates the noun descent from the verb descend. They both derive from the same Latin components de, meaning "down," and scandere, "to climb." Similarly, if someone condescends to you, they are said, derogatorily, to be coming down to your level. All Americans are descended from peoples from other continents, such as Europe, Africa, and Asia. We've all "come down" from our ancestors.

Definitions of descend

1. verb

   move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
   synonyms: come down, fall, go down

   antonyms:

   ascend

   travel up, "We ascended the mountain"

   types:

   prolapse

   slip or fall out of place, as of body parts

   abseil, rappel, rope down

   lower oneself with a rope coiled around the body from a mountainside

   dismount, get down, get off, light, unhorse

   alight from (a horse)

   avalanche, roll down

   gather into a huge mass and roll down a mountain, of snow

   dive, plunge, plunk

   drop steeply

   go down, go under, set

   disappear beyond the horizon

   correct, decline, slump

   go down in value

   precipitate

   fall vertically, sharply, or headlong

   sink, subside

   descend into or as if into some soft substance or place

   crash

   fall or come down violently

   flop

   fall suddenly and abruptly

   topple, tumble

   fall down, as if collapsing

   drop

   fall vertically

   plop

   drop with the sound of something falling into water

   pitch

   fall or plunge forward

   alight, climb down

   come down

   go down, go under, settle, sink

   go under, "The raft sank and its occupants drowned"

   pounce, swoop

   move down on as if in an attack

   drip

   fall in drops

   cascade, cascade down

   rush down in big quantities, like a cascade

   power-dive

   make a power dive

   nosedive

   plunge nose first; drop with the nose or front first, of aircraft

   duck

   submerge or plunge suddenly

   crash-dive

   descend steeply and rapidly

   chute, jump, parachute

   jump from an airplane and descend with a parachute

   keel over

   turn over and fall

   dump, plunge

   fall abruptly

   plummet, plump

   drop sharply

   flump, flump down

   fall heavily

   settle, subside

   sink down or precipitate

   founder

   sink below the surface

   submerge, submerse

   sink below the surface; go under or as if under water

   decline

   go down

   stoop

   descend swiftly, as if on prey

   type of:

   go, locomote, move, travel

   change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
2. verb

   come as if by falling
   synonyms: fall, settle

   fall

   go as if by falling

   type of:

   come

   come to pass; arrive, as in due course
3. verb

   come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example
   “She was descended from an old Italian noble family”

   synonyms: come, derive

   derive

   come from

   come, hail

   be a native of
4. verb

   do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
   synonyms: condescend, deign

   type of:

   act, move

   perform an action, or work out or perform (an action)