descent

descent
descent c.1300, from O.Fr. descente "descent, descendance, lineage," formed from descendre (see DESCEND (Cf. descend)) on analogy of French nouns like 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.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Descent 3 — Developer(s) Outrage Entertainment Publisher(s) Interplay Productions …   Wikipedia

  • Descent 4 — (working title) Publisher(s) Interplay Entertainment Series Descent Platform(s) Microsoft Windows …   Wikipedia

  • descent — de·scent n: transmission or devolution of the estate of a person who has died without a valid will compare distribution Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. descent …   Law dictionary

  • Descent — steht für: den Originaltitel des Films Feuerhölle Descent (2007), einen US amerikanische Thriller von Talia Lugacy Descent (Computerspiel), ein Computerspiel Descent: Die Reise ins Dunkel, ein Brettspiel Siehe auch: The Descent – Abgrund des… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Descent — De*scent , n. [F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente, from vendre. See {Descend}.] 1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower. [1913 Webster] 2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • descent — [n1] moving down; lowering cave in, coast, coming down, crash, declension, declination, decline, declivity, dip, downgrade, droop, drop, drop off, fall, falling, grade, gradient, header, hill, inclination, incline, landslide, plummeting, plunge,… …   New thesaurus

  • descent — descent, descent theory See kinship …   Dictionary of sociology

  • descent — ► NOUN 1) an act or the action of descending. 2) a downward slope. 3) a person s origin or nationality. 4) (descent on) a sudden violent attack on …   English terms dictionary

  • descent — [dē sent′, disent′] n. [ME descent < OFr descente < descendre: see DESCEND] 1. a descending; coming down or going down 2. lineage; ancestry 3. one generation (in a specified lineage) 4. a downward slope 5. a way down or downward …   English World dictionary

  • Descent II — This article is about the video game. For the British 2009 horror movie, see The Descent 2. For the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, see Descent (Star Trek: The Next Generation)#Part II. Descent II Developer(s) …   Wikipedia

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