Definition of Descent. Meaning of Descent. Synonyms of Descent
Here you will find one or more explanations in English for the word Descent.
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Definition of Descent
Descent Descent De*scent", n. [F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente,
from vendre. See Descend.]
1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of
place from higher to lower.
2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion
from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a
descent upon the enemy.
The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to
God, when they feared that the French and English
fleets would make a descent upon their coasts.
--Jortin.
3. Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station,
virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from
a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less
important, from the better to the worse, etc.
2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation;
lineage; birth; extraction. --Dryden.
5. (Law) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually,
but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to
inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity. --Abbott.
6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or
sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.
7. That which is descended; descendants; issue.
If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must
be born to certain woe. --Milton.
8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a
degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.
No man living is a thousand descents removed from
Adam himself. --Hooker.
9. Lowest place; extreme downward place. [R.]
And from the extremest upward of thy head, To the
descent and dust below thy foot. --Shak.
10. (Mus.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.
Syn: Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage;
assault; invasion; attack.
