descendants

Meanings

1. 1nounplural

   The children, grandchildren, and later generations of a particular person or group.

   Grammar: Always plural when talking about more than one; for a single person use the singular 'descendant'.

   Patterns

   • descendants of someone
   • direct descendants
   • living descendants

   She has traced her family back to the descendants of Irish immigrants.

   The estate was divided among the old man's descendants.

   Many of the town's residents are descendants of the first settlers.

2. 2nounpluraltechnical

   Later forms or versions of something that came before, such as languages or species.

   Grammar: Used mostly in academic writing about languages, animals, or ideas.

   Patterns

   • descendants of something
   • modern descendants

   Italian and Spanish are descendants of Latin.

   These birds are the descendants of dinosaurs.

Word forms

Common combinations

direct descendants

Only direct descendants can inherit the title.

living descendants

The castle still belongs to his living descendants.

descendants of immigrants

The neighborhood is full of descendants of immigrants.

trace your descendants

It is hard to trace your descendants without old records.

Synonyms and how they differ

offspring

More formal and often used for the young of animals or people; it usually refers to one generation, not many.

heirs

Focuses on people who legally receive money or property, not on family line in general.

Opposites

Word family

descendant noun

One person or thing that comes from an earlier one.

descend verb

To come down from a higher place, 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 ancestors?

Practice

Make it your own

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

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