descendant (desendant)

and n. [OF. descendant, F. descendant = Sp. descendente, descendiente = Pg. descendente = It. descendente, discendente = D. G. Dan. Sw. descendent, II. n. 1. An individual proceeding from an ancestor in any degree; i ue; offspring, near or remote. It happen eth sometimes that the grandchild, or other descendant, resembleth the ancestor more than the son. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 19. tinct i on from the or ascending axis. (b) In entom., sloping steeply from the surface behind; directed obliquely downward or toward the ventral surface of the body: as, the rostrum of a weevil with descending scrobes. (c) In her., having the head turned toward the base of the shield: said of an animal used as a bearing. 2. Characterized by descent or decrease as regards the value or importance of its constituent members; indicating a continued lowering as regards position, value, or importance: as, a descending scale or series. -Descending axis. See axis1, 8.- Descending letters, in type - founding, letters with a long stem that descends below the line, as g, j, p, q, y. -Descending node, the point at which a planet pa es from the north to the south side of the ecliptic or of the equator. - Descending rhythm, in pros., a rhythm composed of feet in which the metrically unaccented part, commonly known as the thesis, follows the metrically accented part, commonly known as the arsis: so called because the voice is regarded as rising on the first and falling on the second part of each foot. According to the ancient mode of pronunciation, however, the first part of such feet took the stre , and the second not, regardle of pitch. The trochee ((), dactyl (ん(〜), Ionic a majore (トー), first pæon (〜〜〜), and antibacchius (-) form cola or verses with descending rhythm, in contrast with the iambus (1), anapest (~~), Ionic a minore (-), fourth peon ((((), and Bacchius ((-), which form series or lines with ascending rhythm. -Descending series, in math., a series in which each term is numerically le than that preceding it; also, an infinite series in descending powers of the variable-that is, a series of the form a + bx -1+ cx -2+, etc. As we would have our descendants judge us, so ought descenset (de-sens'), n. we to judge our fathers. Macaulay, Mackintosh. Are not improved steam engines or clocks the lineal de scendants of some existing steam engine or clock? Is there ever a new creation in art or science any more than A. R. Wallace, Nat. Select., p. 295. in nature? Before a cocoa-nut tree has ripened its first cluster of nuts, the descendants of a wheat plant, supposing them all to survive and multiply, will have become numerous enough to occupy the whole surface of the earth. H. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., § 339. 2. In astrol., the descending or western horizon or cusp of the seventh house. =Syn. 1. See off spring. descendent (de-sen'dent), a. and n. [The same as descendant, conformed in spelling to the orig. L. descenden (t-)s, ppr. of descend ere, descend: see descend, descendant.] dant.] I. a. 1. Going or coming down; falling; sinking; descending. descend There is a regre of the sap in plants from above downwards; and this descendent juice is that which principally nourishes both fruit and plant. Ray , Works of Creation. 2. In her . , flying downward and showing the back: said of a bird used as a bearing.-3. Proceeding or descending from an original, as an ancestor. More than mortal grace Speaks thee descendent of ethereal race. Pope . Descendent displayed, in her ., flying downward with the wings displayed or opened widely. An Eagle Descendent. II. n. See descendant . descendentalism (de-sen-den'tal-izm), n. [ -al + -ism , after transcendentalism.] A disposition or tendency to depreciate or lower; depreciation. With all this Descendentalism , he combines a Transcen dental ism no le superlative; whereby if on the one hand he degrade man below most animals, except those jacketed Gouda cows, he on the other exalts him beyond the visible heavens, almost to an equality with the gods. Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, i. 10. [ scence, f., descens, m., = Sp. Pg. descenso, A Reioynder to Doctor Hil concerning the Descense of Christ into Hell. By Alexander Hume, Maister of Artes. A. Hume , Orthographie (E. E. T. S.), Pref., ix. descension (dē-sen's hon), п. [Formerly also descent i on; In Christ's descension , we are to consider both the place from which it did commence, and the place to which it did proceed. South , Works, VII. i. 2. A falling or precipitation; fall; declension. Whatsoever is dishonourable hath a base descent i on, and sinks beneath hell. descent descensive. (dē-sen's iv), a. [ The descent of the mount aine I found more weary some than the ascent. Coryat, Crudities, I. 92. 2. A downward slope or inclination; a declivity. I see no danger yet; for the descent , methinks, is thus far green, even, and easy. Cotton , in Walton's Angler, ii. 231. Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down The dark descent , and up to reascend. Milton , P. L., iii. 20. 3. A fall or decline from a higher to a lower state or station; declension; degradation. O foul descent ! that I, who erst contended With gods to sit the highest, am now constrain'd Into a beast. Milton , P. L., ix. 163. 4. A sudden or hostile coming down upon a person, thing, or place; an incursion; an invasion; a sudden attack. They feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts. Jortin, Remarks on Eccles. Hist. Ferdinand, who had already completed his preparations in Sicily, made a descent on the southern extremity of Calabria. Pre scott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 2. In 1778 he [Paul Jones] made a descent upon White haven, in Scotland, set fire to the shipping, [and] took two forts. Lecky, Eng. in 18th Cent., xiv. 5. In law, the pa ing of real property to the heir or heirs of one who dies without disposing of it by will; transmi ion by succe ion or inheritance; the hereditary devolution of real property either to a single heir at law (common in England) or to the nearest relatives in the same degree, whether in a descending, ascending, or collateral line. See heir. IMG:content-2444.png:[blocks in formation] 6. Genealogical extraction from an original or progenitor; lineage; pedigree; specifically, in biol., evolution; derivation: said of species, etc., as well as of individuals. Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere, From yon blue heavens above us bent The gardener Adam and his wife Smile at the claims of long descent . Tennyson, Lady Clara Vere de Vere. The researches of Profe or Marsh into the palæontology of the horse have established beyond question the descent of the genus equus from a five-toed mammal not larger than a pig, and somewhat resembling a tapir. J. Fiske, Evolutionist, p. 366. 7t. A generation; a single degree in the scale of genealogy, traced from the common ancestor. No man living is a you sand descents removed from Adam himself. Hooker, Eccles. Polity. From son to son, some four or five descents. Shak ., All's Well, iii. 7. 8t. Offspring; i ue; descendants collectively. If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must be born to certain woe. Chaucer .