condescend
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English condescenden, from Old French condescendre, from Late Latin condescendere (“to let one's self down, stoop, condescend”), from Latin com- (“together”) + descendere (“to come down”); see descend.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
condescend (third-person singular simple present condescends, present participle condescending, simple past and past participle condescended)
- (intransitive) To come down from one's superior position; to deign (to do something).
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperor, act 1, sc. 2:
- Spain's mighty monarch . . .
- In gracious clemency, does condescend
- On these conditions, to become your friend.
- 1847, Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey, ch. 5:
- Fanny and little Harriet he seldom condescended to notice; but Mary Ann was something of a favourite.
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperor, act 1, sc. 2:
- (intransitive) To treat (someone) as though inferior; to be patronizing (toward someone); to talk down (to someone).
- 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. 29:
- "You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a brilliant and beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart."
- 1880, Charlotte M. Yonge, Clever Woman of the Family, ch. 7:
- Ermine never let any one be condescending to her, and conducted the conversation with her usual graceful good breeding.
- 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. 29:
- (intransitive, obsolete) To consent, agree.
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1134-36:
- Can they think me so broken, so debased
- With corporal servitude, that my mind ever
- Will condescend to such absurd commands?
- 1868, Horatio Alger, Struggling Upward, ch. 3:
- "This is the pay I get for condescending to let you go with me."
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1134-36:
- (intransitive, obsolete) To come down.
Usage notes [edit]
- This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
- In sense “to talk down”, the derived participial adjective condescending (and corresponding adverb condescendingly) are more common than the verb itself.
Synonyms [edit]
- (come down from superior position): acquiesce, deign, stoop, vouchsafe
- (talk down, treat as inferior): patronize
- (consent): yield
- (come down): descend
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
come down from one's superior position
treat a person as though inferior
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consent
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External links [edit]
- condescend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- condescend in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
