descent

de·scent  (d-snt)

n.

1. The act or an instance of descending.

2. A way down.

3. A downward incline or passage; a slope.

4.

a. Hereditary derivation; lineage: a person of African descent.

b. One generation of a specific lineage.

5.

a. The fact or process of coming down or being derived from a source: a paper tracing the descent of the novel from old picaresque tales.

b. Development in form or structure during transmission from an original source.

6. Law Transference of property by inheritance.

7. A lowering or decline, as in status or level: Her career went into a rapid descent after the charges of misconduct.

8. A sudden visit or attack; an onslaught.

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[Middle English, from Old French, descent, from feminine past participle of descendre, to descend; see descend.]

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descent [dɪˈsɛnt]

n

1. the act of descending

2. a downward slope or inclination

3. a passage, path, or way leading downwards

4. (Social Science / Anthropology & Ethnology) derivation from an ancestor or ancestral group; lineage

5. (Social Science / Anthropology & Ethnology) (in genealogy) a generation in a particular lineage

6. a decline or degeneration

7. a movement or passage in degree or state from higher to lower

8. (often foll by on) a sudden and overwhelming arrival or attack

9. (Law) Property law (formerly) the transmission of real property to the heir on an intestacy

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Descent of woodpeckers: a flock of woodpeckers—Lipton, 1970; also descendants collectively.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	descent - a movement downward                   change of location, travel - a movement through space that changes the location of something drop, fall - a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity; "it was a miracle that he survived the drop from that height" lightening - descent of the uterus into the pelvic cavity that occurs late in pregnancy; the fetus is said to have dropped set - the descent of a heavenly body below the horizon; "before the set of sun" cascade, shower - a sudden downpour (as of tears or sparks etc) likened to a rain shower; "a little shower of rose petals"; "a sudden cascade of sparks" sinking - a descent as through liquid (especially through water); "they still talk about the sinking of the Titanic" slide - (geology) the descent of a large mass of earth or rocks or snow etc.
	2.	descent - properties attributable to your ancestry; "he comes from good origins" extraction, origin ancestry, filiation, lineage, derivation - inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline full blood - descent from parents both of one pure breed
	3.	descent - the act of changing your location in a downward direction movement, move, motion - the act of changing location from one place to another; "police controlled the motion of the crowd"; "the movement of people from the farms to the cities"; "his move put him directly in my path" parachuting, jump - descent with a parachute; "he had done a lot of parachuting in the army" nose dive, nosedive, dive - a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft abseil, rappel - (mountaineering) a descent of a vertical cliff or wall made by using a doubled rope that is fixed to a higher point and wrapped around the body swoop - a swift descent through the air crash dive - a rapid descent by a submarine drop - the act of dropping something; "they expected the drop would be successful" collapse, flop - the act of throwing yourself down; "he landed on the bed with a great flop"
	4.	descent - the kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors filiation, line of descent, lineage family relationship, kinship, relationship - (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption bilateral descent - line of descent traced through both the maternal and paternal sides of the family unilateral descent - line of descent traced through one side of the family
	5.	descent - a downward slope or bend declivity, downslope, declination, declension, decline, fall downhill - the downward slope of a hill incline, slope, side - an elevated geological formation; "he climbed the steep slope"; "the house was built on the side of a mountain" steep - a steep place (as on a hill) acclivity, ascent, climb, upgrade, raise, rise - an upward slope or grade (as in a road); "the car couldn't make it up the rise"
	6.	descent - the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors" ancestry, blood line, bloodline, lineage, pedigree, stemma, line of descent, parentage, blood, origin, stock, line kinfolk, kinsfolk, phratry, family line, sept, folk, family - people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower" side - a family line of descent; "he gets his brains from his father's side" family tree, genealogy - successive generations of kin

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descent

noun

1. fall, drop, plunge, coming down, swoop The airplane crashed on its descent into the airport.

2. slope, drop, dip, incline, slant, declination, declivity On the descents, cyclists freewheel past cars.

3. decline, deterioration, degradation, decadence, degeneration, debasement his swift descent from respected academic to homeless derelict

4. origin, extraction, ancestry, lineage, family tree, parentage, heredity, genealogy, derivation All the contributors were of foreign descent.

Translations

descent [dɪˈsent] N

1. (= going down) → descenso m, bajada f; (= slope) → cuesta f, pendiente f; (= fall) → descenso m (in de)

2. (= raid) → ataque m (on sobre) → incursión f (on en)

3. (= ancestry) → ascendencia f (from de) of Italian descent → de ascendencia italiana
line of descent → linaje m
he claimed descent from Peter the Great → afirmaba descender de Pedro el Grande

descent [dɪˈsɛnt] n

(= journey down) → descente f

[plane] → descente f
on its descent → dans sa descente
to make its descent → entamer sa descente

(= origin) → origine f
to be of European descent → être d'origine européenne

descent

n

(= going down, of person) → Hinuntergehen nt, → Absteigen nt; (from mountain, of plane, into underworld) → Abstieg m; (of gymnast) → Abgang m; (= slope: of road) → Abfall m; during the descent of the mountain → während des Abstiegs vom Berg; the road made a sharp descent → die Straße fiel steil ab; descent by parachute → Fallschirmabsprung m; the descent from the cross (Art, Rel) → die Kreuzabnahme

(= ancestry) → Abstammung f, → Herkunft f; of noble descent → von adliger Abstammung or Herkunft; he claims direct descent from … → er behauptet, direkt von … abzustammen

(of property) → Vererbung f, → Übertragung f (→ to auf +acc); (of customs) → Überlieferung f (→ to auf +acc)

(Mil, fig, = attack) → Überfall m (→ on auf +acc)

(inf: = visit) → Überfall m (inf)

(fig, into crime etc) → Absinken nt (→ into in +acc); (into chaos, civil war, madness) → Versinken nt (→ into in +acc)

descent [dɪˈsɛnt] n (going down) → discesa; (ancestry) descent (from) → discendenza (da) → origine f (da)

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descent [dɪˈsɛnt] n (going down) → discesa; (ancestry) descent (from) → discendenza (da) → origine f (da)