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descent

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descent

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  descent 
  n  1:  a  movement  downward 
  2:  properties  attributable  to  your  ancestry;  "he  comes  from 
  good  origins"  [syn:  {origin},  {extraction}] 
  3:  the  act  of  changing  your  location  in  a  downward  direction 
  4:  the  kinship  relation  between  an  individual  and  the 
  individual's  progenitors  [syn:  {line  of  descent},  {lineage}, 
  {filiation}] 
  5:  a  downward  slope  [syn:  {declivity},  {fall},  {decline},  {downslope}] 
  [ant:  {ascent}] 
  6:  the  descendants  of  one  individual;  "his  entire  lineage  has 
  been  warriors"  [syn:  {lineage},  {line},  {line  of  descent}, 
  {bloodline},  {blood  line},  {blood},  {pedigree},  {ancestry}, 
  {origin},  {parentage},  {stock}]




more about descent