descend

verb

1. (transitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “they descended the river in boats”

   “to descend a ladder”

   “The noble prince descended to one knee to ask for the princess’s hand in marriage.”

   “[T]hey both deſcend the Hill; […]”

   “[I]f, after deſcending a flight of ſtairs, vve attempt inadvertently to take another ſtep in the manner of the former ones, the ſhock is extreamly rude and diſagreeable; and by no art, can vve cauſe ſuch a ſhock by the ſame means, vvhen vve expect and prepare for it.”

2. (transitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “They took the steep path that descends the hill down to the beach.”

   “Soon after Crowhurst, the down grade steepens to 1 in 100 as the line descends the side of a valley, at the mouth of which a glimpse of the sea can be caught—the only one.”

3. (archaic, transitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “[T]he common Devv exhaled from ſome ſorts of Herbs or VVeeds, but eſpecially from the common Graſs, carries vvith it the Seminal Tincture of the Herb, vvhich being again deſcended by Devvs or Rain upon the bare and naked Earth, re-produceth the ſame Species: […]”

4. (intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “And there is another watergang, called Haile Fayers watergang, 4 miles long and 16 feet broad, which descendeth by a spoye of stone at Hofkirk bridge into the said great river, which must always be cast at the tenants' cost.”

   “They leade theyr life in pleaſure, & at a poppe, down they deſcende into hell.”

   “So God and man is one Chriſte. / Who ſuffered for oure ſaluacion: deſcended into hell, roſe agayne the third daye from the dead. / He aſcended into heauen, he ſytteth on the right hand of the father, God almighty: from whence he ſhall come to iudge the quicke and dead.”

   “[…] Noe [i.e., Noah] vvith his familie comming out of the arke vpon the top of the mount Cordicus, deſcended into the plaine at the foote of the mountaine filled vvith dead bodies (vvhich is called Miri Adam, vvhich is as much as the place of bovvelled men) […]”

   “And the raine deſcended, and the floods came, and the windes blew, and beat vpon that houſe; and it fell not: for it was founded vpon a rock.”

5. (intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
6. (intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “[T]he ſetting Sun / Slowly deſcended, and with right aſpect / Againſt the eaſtern Gate of Paradiſe / Leveld his eevning Rayes: […]”

   “The moon had reached her summit in the heavens and was beginning to descend; the clouds swept across it swifter than the flight of the vulture and dimmed her rays, while the lake reflected the scene of the busy heavens, rendered still busier by the restless waves that were beginning to rise.”

   “Sol, with broaden'd orb, descending, / Left fierce warriors still contending, / Brilliant Vesper shed her glances, / Ere they sheathed their blood-stained lances.”

7. (intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “Cryptorchidism is the failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum.”

8. (intransitive, obsolete)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
9. (intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

   “Novv paſs'd the rugged road, they journey dovvn / The cavern'd vvay deſcending to the tovvn, […]”

10. (historical, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “Their ſails they loos'd, they laſh'd the maſt aſide, / And caſt their anchors, and the cables ty'd: / Then on the breezy ſhore deſcending, join / In grateful banquet o'er the roſy vvine.”

    “About ten o'clock a horse and wagon was descried making a slow approach to the camp over the prairie. […] When the conveyance at length drew up to Mr. Thompson's door, the gentleman descended with great deliberation, straightened himself up, rubbed his hands, and beaming satisfaction from every part of his radiant frame, advanced to the group that was gathered to welcome him, and which had saluted him by name as soon as he came within hearing.”

11. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “[…] VVinter comes on ſoftly, firſt by colde devves, then hoare froſts, vntill at laſt it deſcende to the hardeſt vveather of all: […]”

    “Thy glories novv have touch'd the higheſt point, / And muſt deſcend.”

12. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “Death dvvels vvithin vs, and if gentle Peace / Diſcend not ſoone, our ſorrovves to ſurceaſe, / Latium (alreadie quaild) vvill be deſtroyd.”

    “Hear, Goddeſs, hear, by thoſe oblations vvon; / And for the pious fire preſerve the ſon: / His vviſh'd return vvith happy povv'r befriend, / And on the Suitors let thy vvrath deſcend.”

    “Death spreadeth darkly above thee, / Descendeth, descendeth upon thee, / Suffocating! suffocating! ah!”

    “And she managed to keep the good news to herself, though it would seem that the most careless observer might have seen by her springing step and her radiant countenance that some fine piece of good fortune had descended upon her.”

    “[A]ll the tall chimneys in it [a photograph]—and I can count twenty-five—are smoking furiously, belching out thick dark clouds that look as if they will descend on the ugly conglomeration of roofs below. That is what it must have looked like throughout all the great days of the industry.”

13. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “But this ſubject begins to ſvvell beyond the bounds intended unto it, leſt therefore vvhat vve intended but a Tract ſhould ſvvell to a Tome, vve vvill here deſcend to matters of later date.”

    “He imagined that he had novv purchaſed the privilege of diſcourſe and began to deſcend to familiar queſtions, endeavouring to accommodate his diſcourſe to the groſſneſs of ruſtick underſtandings.”

    “But let us deſcend to particulars.”

    “Historians rarely descend to those details from which alone the real state of a community can be collected.”

14. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “The meeting descended into chaos.”

15. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “When moving down against [him] thou descendest against the sleeping man unknowing, let Varuṇa cover me with a golden armor.”

    “I suffer at times from damp snivelling colds in the head, which descend upon me quite suddenly, turning me into a helpless and disgusting red-nosed and red-eyed animal feebly crying for still more handkerchiefs.”

    “[T]he low growl of engines coming from high above the cloud cover, alerts us to the fact that there are many more aircraft descending on us than had done during previous visits from the snoopers in their usual ones and twos.”

16. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “My neighbour descended upon me just as I was walking out the door.”

17. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “He descended from his high estate.”

    “[I]f (as ſeldome) he deſcend to diſports of chance, his games ſhall neuer make him either pale vvith feare, or hote vvith deſire of gaine.”

    “But what will not Ambition and Revenge / Deſcend to? vvho aſpires muſt down as low / As high he ſoard, obnoxious firſt or laſt / To baſeſt things.”

    “If I have not been diſtinguiſhed by the diſtributers of literary honours, I have ſeldom deſcended to any of the arts by vvhich favour is obtained.”

    “Not oft to smile descendeth he, / And when he doth 'tis sad to see / That he but mocks at Misery.”

18. (figuratively, intransitive, poetic)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “VVhen I deſcend into my ſelf, and contemplat my moſt terrible horrible terribility, I can hardly hold my ſelf vvithin my ſelf; […]”

    “[He] vvith holieſt Meditations fed, / Into himſelf deſcended, and at once / All his great vvork to come before him ſet; […]”

    “Let us deſcend into our ovvn boſoms; let us aſk ourſelves vvhat are our duties, and vvhat are our means of diſcharging them.”

19. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.

    “Indefinite numbers I ſuppoſe to be intermediate Numbers lying betvveen finite and infinite: For as vve do not deſcend from 1 to 0 at one Step, but muſt paſs through an infinite Series of Fractions, ½, ⅓, ¼, ¹⁄₅, &c.”

20. (figuratively, intransitive)Senses relating to moving from a higher to a lower position.
21. (obsolete, rare, transitive)Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.
22. (intransitive)Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.

    “[T]he eternal Mark of having had a vvicked Anceſtor deſcends to his Poſterity; his VVife is deprived of her Dovvry, and all his Deſcendants are made ignoble: […]”

23. (intransitive)Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.

    “The beggar may descend from a prince.”

    “The Rebels are in Southvvarke: Fly my Lord: / Iacke Cade proclaimes himſelfe Lord Mortimer, / Deſcended from the Duke of Clarence houſe, / And calles your Grace Vſurper, openly, / And vovves to Crovvne himſelfe in VVeſtminſter.”

    “Thou ſhould'ſt haue better pleas'd me vvith this deede, / Hadſt thou deſcended from another houſe: […]”

    “[I]f a dog be not vvel deſcended, that is to ſay, begot by an excellent dog, or an excellent bitch, there can be little hope of his goodneſſe.”

    “The humble petition of WHO and WHICH, […] We are descended of ancient families, and kept up our dignity and honour many years till the jack-sprat THAT supplanted us.”

24. (intransitive)Senses relating to passing down from a source to another thing.

    “The crown descends to the heir of the previous monarch.”

    “[I]f the Tenant giue a part of the Tenancie to the father of the Lord in Taile, the father dieth, and this deſcends to the Lord, in this caſe by Act in Law the Seigniorie is ſuſpended in part and in eſſe for part, and the ſame Law is of a Rent charge.”

    “As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, vvhich vvould otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]”

    “The possession of the sacred fire and of the ancestral sticks, carrying with it both political authority and priestly dignity, descends in the male line, and hence generally passes from father to son.”

noun

1. (archaic)Synonym of descent (“instance of descending; sloping incline or passage; way down; decline, etc.”).

   “[I]t ſhall be good if in your iourney you come to the deſcend of anye great Hil, to light from your Horſes backe, and to vvalke dovvne the hill a foote, […]”