descendants or descendents

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   A way of asking which spelling is correct for the plural noun meaning people born from an earlier person.

   Grammar: Used as a heading or search phrase when checking spelling; in real sentences you simply write one form, usually 'descendants'.

   Patterns

   • the correct spelling is descendants
   • descendants or descendents?

   She typed 'descendants or descendents' into the search bar to check her essay.

   Many learners wonder about 'descendants or descendents' before a spelling test.

2. 2nounplural

   People who are related to someone who lived in an earlier generation; the correct spelling is 'descendants'.

   Grammar: Always spelled with -a- in the middle: descendant, descendants. The form 'descendents' is a common misspelling.

   Patterns

   • descendants of someone
   • direct descendants
   • living descendants

   The family says they are descendants of a nineteenth-century sailor.

   Millions of people around the world are descendants of immigrants.

   The house stayed in the family for six generations of descendants.

Common combinations

direct descendants

Only direct descendants can inherit the title.

descendants of immigrants

Many citizens are descendants of immigrants who arrived a century ago.

living descendants

Researchers traced three living descendants of the poet.

Synonyms and how they differ

offspring

Use 'offspring' for someone's children or young, not usually for many generations later.

heirs

'Heirs' means people who legally receive property, which is narrower than 'descendants'.

Opposites

Word family

descend verb

to come down or to be related to someone from the past

descent noun

the fact of being related to a particular group or person

Commonly confused: descendants or descendents or descendents? descendants or descendents or ancestors?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “descendants or descendents”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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