descendant
/dɪˈsɛndənt/ adjective, noun
Forms descendants descendent
- adjective Descending; going down. “The elevator resumed its descendant trajectory.”
- adjective Descending from a biological ancestor. “Power in the kingdom is transferred in a descendant manner.”
- adjective Proceeding from a figurative ancestor or source.
- noun One of the progeny of a specified person, at any distance of time or through any number of generations. “The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild.”
- noun (figuratively) A thing that derives directly from a given precursor or source. “This famous medieval manuscript has many descendants.”
- noun (biology) A later evolutionary type. “Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves.”
- noun (linguistics) A language that is descended from another. “English and Scots are the descendants of Old English.”
- noun (linguistics) A word or form in one language that is descended from a counterpart in an ancestor language.
- noun (astrology) The intersection of the western (setting) horizon and the ecliptic, its ecliptical longitude; the astrological sign it corresponds to.
Synonyms
afterbear reflex derivative offspring scion and see Thesaurus:child & relative descendent
Antonyms
ascendant ascendent ascending montant ancestor progenitor forefather foremother etymon forebear
Etymology
From Middle English dessendaunte, borrowed from Middle French, from Latin dēscendēns, present participle of descendere, from dē + scandere (“to climb, ascend”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Descendent.
- noun One who descends, as offspring, however remotely; --correlative to ancestor or ascendant.
Etymology [F. descendant, p. pr. of descendre. Cf. Descendent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “descendant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details