Meaning & use
descend
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To go or come down from a higher point to a lower one, such as down stairs, a slope, or through the air.
Grammar: Can take an object (descend the stairs) or stand alone (the plane began to descend).
Patterns
- descend something
- descend from something to something
- descend into something
The hikers slowly descended the rocky trail before dark.
Our plane began to descend through thick cloud.
She descended the staircase with a tray of drinks.
verbintransitive
To be related by blood to a person or group that lived long ago, through a line of parents and children.
Grammar: Usually passive-like and followed by from: she is descended from sailors.
Patterns
- be descended from someone
- descend from someone
Many people in this village are descended from the original settlers.
He claims to descend from a famous poet.
The family is said to have descended from Norman knights.
verbintransitivefigurative
To arrive suddenly in a large, overwhelming group, or to fall into a worse state or mood.
Grammar: Followed by on or upon for arrivals, and into for a worsening state: crowds descended on the town; the talks descended into chaos.
Patterns
- descend on someone
- descend into something
Reporters descended on the small town after the announcement.
The argument quickly descended into shouting.
A heavy silence descended over the room.
Word forms
| third person singular | descends |
|---|---|
| past tense | descended |
| past participle | descended |
| -ing form | descending |
Common combinations
- descend a staircase
- The bride descended the staircase to loud applause.
- descend rapidly
- The temperature descended rapidly after sunset.
- descend into chaos
- Without a clear leader, the meeting descended into chaos.
- descend on a town
- Thousands of fans descend on the town every summer for the festival.
- be descended from
- The breed is descended from wolves bred for herding.
Synonyms and how they differ
- go down
- Go down is the plain everyday phrase, while descend sounds more formal and suits a deliberate or gradual movement.
- climb down
- Climb down stresses the use of hands and feet on a steep surface, whereas descend does not say how the movement is done.
- drop
- Drop suggests a quick or sudden fall, while descend is usually smoother and more controlled.
- sink
- Sink implies slow downward movement into something such as water or mud, whereas descend is more general and often has a destination.
Opposites
Word family
- descent noun
- a movement downward, or a person's family origins
- descendant noun
- a person who comes from a particular ancestor
- descending adjective
- going down or becoming smaller in order
- descendent adjective
- an uncommon variant meaning going downward or coming from an ancestor
Commonly confused: descend or decent? descend or dissent?
descend vs decent
Decent (/ˈdiːsənt/) is an adjective meaning respectable or acceptable, and it is not related to going down.
descend vs dissent
Dissent means to disagree openly with an official view; it sounds somewhat similar but has nothing to do with movement or ancestry.
Practice
Which sentence uses descend correctly to talk about family origins?
Choose one answer.
Descend takes from when it means coming from an ancestor. The other prepositions do not fit this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “descend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.