descent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈsent/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French descente (“descent, lineage”),^[2][3][4] formed from descendre (“to come down”) (see descend) on the pattern of nouns such as vente (“sale”) from vendre (“to sell”).^[2] A form taken directly from Latin would have been descence.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lineage, derivation from an ancestor: about 1300.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The act of coming down is from the late 14th century in Etymonline, 1590 in the OED,^[2][5] and figuratively from about 1374.^[5] A downward slope is from 1591,^[5][2] and a flight of steps from 1634.^[5] A sudden invasion or attack is from about 1600.^[2] The biological sense, evolutionary descent, is from 1859, in Darwin, though similar uses go back to the 1630s.^[2] The Descent of Christ into hell is from 1883.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – lineage.^[2]
• c. 1374 – a figurative descent.^[5]
• late 14th century – the act of descending.^[2]
• 1591 – a downward slope.^[5]
• c. 1600 – a sudden attack.^[2]
• 1859 – descent (biology).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of descending.
2. A downward slope, or a way down.
3. Ancestry; lineage.
4. A generation in a lineage.
5. A decline or degeneration.
6. A sudden overwhelming arrival or attack, often with on.

Word family

• redescent

Related words

• descend
• descendant
• ascent
• condescend

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press