DESCENT

Pronunciation (US):

• DESCENT (noun)
  The noun DESCENT has 6 senses:

1. a movement downward
2. properties attributable to your ancestry
3. the act of changing your location in a downward direction
4. the kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors
5. a downward slope or bend
6. the descendants of one individual

  Familiarity information: DESCENT used as a noun is common.

• DESCENT (noun)

Meaning:

A movement downward

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("descent" is a kind of...):

change of location; travel (a movement through space that changes the location of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "descent"):

slide ((geology) the descent of a large mass of earth or rocks or snow etc.)

sinking (a descent as through liquid (especially through water))

cascade; shower (a sudden downpour (as of tears or sparks etc) likened to a rain shower)

set (the descent of a heavenly body below the horizon)

lightening (descent of the uterus into the pelvic cavity that occurs late in pregnancy; the fetus is said to have dropped)

drop; fall (a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity)

Meaning:

Properties attributable to your ancestry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

descent; extraction; origin

Context example:

he comes from good origins

Hypernyms ("descent" is a kind of...):

ancestry; derivation; filiation; lineage (inherited properties shared with others of your bloodline)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "descent"):

full blood (descent from parents both of one pure breed)

Meaning:

The act of changing your location in a downward direction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("descent" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "descent"):

abseil (a descent down a nearly vertical surface by using a doubled rope that is coiled around the body and attached to some higher point)

collapse; flop (the act of throwing yourself down)

drop (the act of dropping something)

crash dive (a rapid descent by a submarine)

swoop (a swift descent through the air)

rappel ((mountaineering) a descent of a vertical cliff or wall made by using a doubled rope that is fixed to a higher point and wrapped around the body)

dive; nose dive; nosedive (a steep nose-down descent by an aircraft)

jump; parachuting (descent with a parachute)

Meaning:

The kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

filiation; line of descent; lineage; descent

Hypernyms ("descent" is a kind of...):

family relationship; kinship; relationship ((anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "descent"):

bilateral descent (line of descent traced through both the maternal and paternal sides of the family)

unilateral descent (line of descent traced through one side of the family)

Meaning:

A downward slope or bend

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

downslope; declivity; declination; declension; decline; fall; descent

Hypernyms ("descent" is a kind of...):

incline; side; slope (an elevated geological formation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "descent"):

downhill (the downward slope of a hill)

steep (a steep place (as on a hill))

Antonym:

ascent (an upward slope or grade (as in a road))

Meaning:

The descendants of one individual

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

lineage; pedigree; bloodline; blood line; ancestry; stemma; blood; line of descent; parentage; origin; descent; stock; line

Context example:

his entire lineage has been warriors

Hypernyms ("descent" is a kind of...):

family tree; genealogy (successive generations of kin)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "descent"):

side (a family line of descent)

breed (a special lineage)

family; family line; folk; kinfolk; kinsfolk; phratry; sept (people descended from a common ancestor)