condescend

verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete)To come down or go down; to descend.

   “To ſtoop to any ſordid lovv Action, is to imitate the Kite, vvhich flyeth high in the Air, yet vouchſafes to condeſcend to Carrion upon the Ground.”

2. (figuratively, intransitive)To come down from a superior position and do something; to deign; (with a negative connotation) to stoop.

   “The boss condescended not to sack him after much persuasion from his coworkers.”

   “Truli I knowe him [the Devil] to wel, and haue obeyed him a little to much in condiſcenting to ſome folies.”

   “Be of the ſame mind one towards another. Minde not high things, but condeſcend to men of low eſtate. Be not wiſe in your owne conceits.”

   “Spain’s mighty Monarch, to vvhom Heaven thinks fit / That all the Nations of the Earth ſubmit, / In gracious clemency, does condeſcend / On theſe conditions, to become your Friend.”

   “But she is perfectly amiable, and often condescends to drive by my humble abode in her little phaeton and ponies.”

3. (figuratively, intransitive)To treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.

   “Miss Crawley's graciousness was also remarkable. She continued her raptures about little Amelia, talked about her before her face as if she were a doll, or a servant, or a picture, and admired her with the most benevolent wonder possible. I admire that admiration which the genteel world sometimes extends to the commonalty. There is no more agreeable object in life than to see May Fair folks condescending.”

   “"You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a brilliant and beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart—if that has anything to do with my memory."”

   “Ermine never let any one be condescending to her, and conducted the conversation with her usual graceful good breeding, […]”

   “At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.”

4. (figuratively, intransitive)Chiefly followed by on or upon: to go into detail; to particularize, to specify.

   “The whole of his work consists of digested and transformed experience presented to you under arrangements new to himself. It is all true, except as to "the way it is put," and you feel that it is true—that is, if the work be good of the kind; but you can not "condescend upon particulars" as to when and where it all happened.”

5. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To agree to something; to accede, to assent, to consent; also, to reach an agreement.

   “Than were they condeſended that Kyng Arthure and syr mordred ſhold mete betwyxte bothe theyr hooſtes and eueryche of them shold brynge fourtene persones […]”

   “Careles and shamlesse, / Thriftles and gracelesse, / Together are bended, / And so condyscended, / That the commune welth / Shall neuer haue good helth, […]”

   “For thoſe iuſtly deſerue yͤ ſworde, which with no reaſonable condicions, wil condeſcende vnto peace.”

   “With those reasons of Lanfranke [i.e., Lanfranc], Thomas [of Bayeux] gaue ouer, condescending that the firste of hys prouince should begin at Humber.”

   “The nobles and commons alſo of this realme, […] haue fully condiſcended and vtterly determined to make humble peticion vnto the puyſſaunt prince the Lorde protectour [the Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III], that it maye like his grace at our humble requeſt, to take vpon him the guyding and gouernaunce of this realme, […]”

6. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To give way or yield in a deferential manner; to be amenable or compliant.

   “Henricus the Emperour [Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor] fearing þᵉ vaine thūderbolt of the Popes curse, talking with his princes, and perswaded by his frendes, was fain to condescend to the vnreasonable conditions of the Pope: […]”

   “Theodoſius gave eare & condiſcended to his vvords, […]”

   “Can they think me ſo broken, ſo debas'd / VVith corporal ſervitude, that my mind ever / VVill condeſcend to ſuch abſurd commands?”

7. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To graciously give; to vouchsafe.

   “[W]hen John [the author of the Gospel of John] asks thee [Jesus] a queſtion […] thou condeſcendeſt to a mild and full (though ſecret) ſatisfaction.”

8. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To reach a certain point; to settle on.

   “[H]is Ho[liness] hath, & contynually doth deſire them vvith ſpede to condeſcend to oon opinion, or other, & to ſhevv their ſentence in theſe Articles, VVhether in ther opinions the cauſes vvherupon the Matrimony ſhold be declared nought, & the Diſpenſation void, be ſufficient in the lavv, or not.”

   “[T]hereafter our cavalier condescendeth again to matters of fact.”

9. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To secretly make plans, usually to bring about a bad or illegal result; to conspire, to plot.

   “[S]he perſwaded the Duke of Clarence, that it was neyther naturall, nor honorable to him eyther to condiſcende or take parte againſt the houſe of Yorke, (of which he was lineally diſcended) and to ſet vp agayne the houſe of Lancaſtre, […]”

10. (nonstandard, rare, transitive)To treat (someone) as though inferior; to talk down to (someone); to patronize.

    “I didn't mean to condescend you, Mr. Shreck.”

    “I'm not trying to condescend you, Ben.”

    “THOMAS. […] Does my anger deserve your condescension? / ANDIE. I wasn't condescending you; I was just asking. / THOMAS. No. You said "angry black man." Like my anger only exists in a stereotype. That's condescending. I mean, does it occur to you that I might have something to be angry about? A reason that has nothing to do with my being black?”

11. (obsolete, transitive)Often preceded by the dummy pronoun it: to agree to (something); to consent.

    “It was condescended by the warring parties that they should lay down their arms and seek peace.”

    “And furthermore, we commit the adminiſtration & vſe of policie and iuſtice ouer the foreſaid vnited prouinces, and aſſociat cities and members of the ſame into his hands, […] with eſpeciall power to collect profits, and receiue, and adminiſtrat all the contributions which are agreed and condeſcended, or ſhall hereafter he conſented or agreed, to the maintenance of the warres: […]”