Antonyms for descent
| Grammar : Noun |
| Spell : dih-sent |
| Phonetic Transcription : dɪˈsɛnt |
Definition of descent
Origin :- c.1300, from Old French descente "descent, descendance, lineage," formed from descendre (see descend) on analogy of French nouns such as attente from attendre "to expect," vente "sale" from vendre "to sell," pente "slope" from pendre "to hang" (the etymological English word from Latin would be *descence).
- Figurative use is from late 14c. Meaning "action of descending," also "a downward slope" is from 1590s. Meaning "act of descending from an ancestor" is from mid-14c. Evolutionary sense is from 1859 in Darwin, though there are uses which suggest essentially the same thing going back to 1630s.
- noun moving down; lowering
- noun line of ancestry
- noun deterioration
- noun assault, attack
- To make up for his indiscretion, K. suggested a descent to the river.
- Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart
- Our journey must now be compared to the descent from cloud-land in a balloon.
- Extract from : « The Roof of France » by Matilda Betham-Edwards
- Traces of the French descent which the widow boasted of were apparent in Winnie too.
- Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
- His descent into the street was like the descent into a slimy aquarium from which the water had been run off.
- Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
- I continued the descent, and crossed the creek to where the unfortunate Tulp was waiting for me.
- Extract from : « In the Valley » by Harold Frederic
- Nor could I see any special value in the fact of descent, even were it unquestioned.
- Extract from : « In the Valley » by Harold Frederic
- What a descent from the summit of hope to the depths of despair!
- Extract from : « Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I » by Francis Augustus Cox
- An account of one's descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own.
- Extract from : « The Devil's Dictionary » by Ambrose Bierce
- But just in front of us there was a little open ground suitable for our descent.
- Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt
- We know, now what you underwent when you suspected my descent, and when you knew it.
- Extract from : « A Tale of Two Cities » by Charles Dickens
Synonyms for descent
- abasement
- advance
- anticlimax
- blood
- cadence
- cave-in
- coast
- comedown
- coming down
- crash
- debasement
- decadence
- declension
- declination
- decline
- declivity
- degradation
- dip
- discomfiture
- down
- downcome
- downfall
- downgrade
- droop
- drop
- drop-off
- extraction
- fall
- falling
- family
- family tree
- foray
- genealogy
- grade
- gradient
- header
- heredity
- hill
- inclination
- incline
- incursion
- invasion
- landslide
- lapse
- lineage
- origin
- parentage
- pathos
- pedigree
- plummeting
- plunge
- plunging
- pounce
- precipitation
- prolapse
- raid
- relationship
- sag
- settlement
- sinkage
- sinking
- slant
- slide
- slip
- slope
- slump
- swoop
- tailspin
- topple
- tumble
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019