descend

de•scend

[[t]dɪˈsɛnd[/t]] v. i.

1) to go or pass from a higher to a lower place; move or come down:

to descend from the mountaintop[/ex]

2) to pass from higher to lower in any scale or series

3) to go from generals to particulars, as in a discussion

4) to slope, tend, or lead downward:

The path descends to the pond[/ex]

5) to be inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family:

The title descends through eldest sons[/ex]

6) to be derived from something remote in time, esp. through continuous transmission:

a festival descending from a druidic rite[/ex]

7) to attack or approach as if attacking (usu. fol. by on or upon):

Thrill-seekers descended upon the scene of the crime[/ex]

8) to settle, as a cloud or vapor

9) to sink or come down from a certain standard or level of behavior; stoop:

You must never descend to bickering[/ex]

10) to move downward upon or along; go or climb down (stairs, a hill, etc.)

11) cvb to extend or lead down along

12) phv descend or be descended from, to have a certain ancestor or ancestry:

We are descended from the kings of Ireland[/ex]

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Etymology: 1250–1300; < OF descendre < L dēscendere=dē- de-+-scendere, comb. form of scandere to climb de•scend′i•ble, de•scend′a•ble, adj. de•scend′ing•ly, adv.