ascendant

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ascendent,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French ascendant,^[5][6][7] from Latin ascendēns (“climbing up”), the present participle of ascendō (“to climb up, mount, ascend”).^[5][8][4] Etymonline and Klein derive it straight from the Latin participle,^[8][9] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes the noun from Medieval Latin ascendēns.^[3] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and scandō (“to climb”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In astrology, the degree of the ecliptic or sign of the zodiac rising above the eastern horizon at a given moment, especially at a person's birth: about 1386, in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Prologue.^[5][2] Etymonline likewise dates it to the late 14th century,^[8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged to the 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the astrological use came first in English, and that the noun was taken over before the adjective.^[5] Chaucer used ascendent 47 times.^[10] The planet ruling the ascendant was believed to have the strongest influence on a horoscope, hence in the ascendant, "ruling, dominant", from the 1670s.^[8] The figurative sense of superiority or supremacy is recorded from 1607,^[5] and the adjective "superior, predominant" from 1634 in the OED,^[5] though Etymonline dates it only to 1806.^[8] The general sense "rising, moving upward" appears in 1591.^[5][3][8] In the 16th and 17th centuries the noun could also mean an upward slope or a flight of steps (1548–1642).^[5] Johnson (1755) gave the adjective two senses, "superior, predominant" and, in astrology, "above the horizon".^[11] The OED notes that the spelling -ent once prevailed in the astrological senses, while in the senses of dominance -ant is almost the only form.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – noun, in astrology, the point of the zodiac rising above the eastern horizon.^[5][2]
• c. 1450 – adjective, of a degree of the zodiac, rising above the horizon (in a copy of a text from before 1388).^[2]
• 1548 – an upward slope; a flight of steps (obsolete by 1642).^[5]
• 1591 – adjective, rising, moving upward.^[5][3] Etymonline dates it to the 1590s.^[8]
• 1594 – adjective, of a heavenly body, rising toward the zenith; in astrology, just above the eastern horizon.^[5]
• 1607 – noun, superiority, supremacy.^[5]
• 1611 – in botany and physiology, ascending.^[5]
• 1634 – adjective, superior, predominant.^[5]
• before 1698 – in the ascendant, in a position of power.^[5] Etymonline dates the phrase to the 1670s.^[8]
• 1795 – a supporter of a policy of ascendancy (rare).^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (astrology) The point of the ecliptic or the sign of the zodiac that is rising above the eastern horizon at a given moment, especially at a person's birth.^[3][12][5]
2. A position of dominance, superiority or control.^[12][3][5]
3. in the ascendant: growing in power or influence; dominant: After the election the reformers were in the ascendant.^[12][5][3]
4. (rare) An ancestor.^[12]

Adjective

1. Moving or tending upward; rising.^[12][3][5]
2. In a dominant or powerful position; superior or influential: an ascendant political class.^[12][3][5]
3. (botany) Curving or growing upward; ascending.^[12][3][5]
4. (astronomy) Of a heavenly body, rising toward the zenith; in astrology, just above the eastern horizon.^[5][6][11]

Word family

• ascendantly
• ascendance
• ascendancy

Related words

• ascend
• ascent
• ascending
• ascender
• ascension

Usage notes

The spelling ascendent is a less common variant.^[3][12] Etymonline holds that in the ascendant means "ruling, dominant", not "rising" as is often thought,^[8] but the OED and Collins also record the sense "rising in power or influence".^[5][12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins