discendente

Forms

discendente m or f by sense (plural discendenti)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian discendere (“to descend”): its present participle, used as an adjective and as a noun.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary derives it directly from the participle Latin dēscendentem, in the accusative.^[1] The verb is a learned borrowing of dēscendō, formed with dē- on scandō (“to climb”).^[2][3]

The LEI notes that the Latin verb continues in all of Romance except Sardinian, as in French descendre and Spanish descender.^[7][3] The older form Old Italian descendente keeps the Latin ⟨e⟩.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, a Florentine poem written before 1274.^[8] The TLIO gives two senses for Old Italian: going towards a lower place, and descending from someone by blood.^[8] DELI dates the adjective to the 13th century, in Chiaro Davanzati, and the noun “descendant” to before 1292, in B. Giamboni.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the adjective in astronomy, of a star setting on the horizon, and had the phrase in discendente, “in decreasing order”.^[8] Boccaccio writes in the Filostrato (1335–1336) of l'onde discendenti al mare (“the waves running down to the sea”).^[7][10] The noun “descendant” is common in the Villani chronicles, as in discendenti di Carlo Magno (“descendants of Charlemagne”).^[10]

Technical uses multiplied: anatomy distinguishes the ascending and descending trunks of the aorta, linguistics has the dittongo discendente, a falling diphthong, music a descending note, botany the linfa discendente that runs from the leaves to the roots, and typography letters whose stroke goes below the line.^{[10][11][4][6]} In city transport, a corsa discendente is a run from the outskirts to the centre.^[11][6]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini uses discendente in the Tesoretto.^[8]
• 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses the adjective.^[2]
• Before 1292 – B. Giamboni uses the noun “descendant”.^[2]
• 1335–1336 – Boccaccio's Filostrato has the adjective “going downward”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. descending, going downward: Prendemmo il sentiero discendente verso il lago.^{[12][4][5][1]}
2. Decreasing, going from more to less in strength or intensity: in ordine discendente, in descending order.^[12][4][9]
3. (transport) Of an urban run going from the outskirts to the centre: corsa discendente.^[11][6]
4. (linguistics) dittongo discendente: a falling diphthong, whose first element is the stressed vowel.^[11][9]

Noun

1. A descendant, someone descended from another by blood: La villa appartiene ancora ai discendenti del fondatore.^{[12][5][1][8]}
2. (building, masculine) A downpipe, the pipe that drains rainwater or waste water.^[5][1]

Related words

• discendere
• discendenza
• ascendente
• Latin descendo

Usage notes

The old form descendente is still recorded.^[9][1] The opposite of the adjective is ascendente.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
8. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b c d e Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 4, 589
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET