'Descent' definitions:

Definition of 'descent'

From: WordNet
noun
A movement downward
noun
Properties attributable to your ancestry; "he comes from good origins" [syn: origin, descent, extraction]
noun
The act of changing your location in a downward direction
noun
The kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors [syn: descent, line of descent, lineage, filiation]
noun
A downward slope or bend [syn: descent, declivity, fall, decline, declination, declension, downslope] [ant: acclivity, ascent, climb, raise, rise, upgrade]
noun
The descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors" [syn: lineage, line, line of descent, descent, bloodline, blood line, blood, pedigree, ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock]

Definition of 'Descent'

From: GCIDE
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. That which is descended; descendants; issue. [1913 Webster]
  • If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must be born to certain woe. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation. [1913 Webster]
  • No man living is a thousand descents removed from Adam himself. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Lowest place; extreme downward place. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'descent'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Descent'