descendant

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• descendent

Etymology

Middle English dessendaunte, from Middle French, from Latin dēscendēns, present participle of descendere, itself from dē + scandere (“climb, ascend”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

descendant (comparative more descendant, superlative most descendant)

1. descending from a biological ancestor
2. proceeding from a figurative ancestor or source

Antonyms

• ascendant, ascendent, ascending

Noun

descendant (plural descendants)

1. (literally) One who is the progeny of someone at any distance of time

   The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild.

2. (figuratively) One which derives directly from a given precursor or source

   This famous medieval manuscript has many descendants.

3. (biology) A later evolutionary type

   Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves.

Antonyms

• ascendant
• ancestor

Derived terms

• direct descendant
• indirect descendant

Translations

one who is the progeny of someone

Albanian: pasardhës n Arabic: سليل (ar) (saliil) m. Bulgarian: потомък (bg) m. Catalan: descendent m. Chinese: Mandarin: 後裔 (cmn), 后裔 (cmn) (hòuyì); 子孫 (cmn), 子孙 (cmn) (zǐsūn), 後嗣 (cmn), 后嗣 (cmn) (hòusì) Croatian: pòtomak (hr) m. Czech: potomek m. Dutch: afstammeling (nl) m., nakomeling (nl) m., nazaat (nl) m., telg (nl) m. Estonian: järglane Ewe: dzidzimevi n. French: descendant (fr) m. German: Nachkomme (de) m.

Hebrew: צאצא (he) (tze'etza) m. Icelandic: afkomandi (is) m., niðji (is) m. Indonesian: keturunan (id) Irish: sliochtach (ga) m. Italian: discendente (it) m. Japanese: 子孫 (ja) (しそん, shison), 子種 (ja) (こだね, kodane) Korean: 자손 (ko) (jason), 후예 (ko) (huye) Polish: potomek m. Romanian: descendent (ro) m., urmaș (ro) m. Russian: потомок (ru) (potómok) m. Serbian: potomak (sr) m. Spanish: descendiente (es) m. Telugu: వారసుడు (vaarasuDu), ఆనువంశీకుడు (aanuvaMSIkuDu) m.

which derives directly from a given precursor or source

Dutch: afstammeling (nl) m., nakomeling (nl) m.

a later evolutionary type

Chinese: Mandarin: 後裔 (cmn), 后裔 (cmn) (hòuyì) Croatian: pòtomak (hr) m. Dutch: afstammeling (nl) m. Finnish: jälkeläinen (fi)

French: descendant (fr) m. German: Abkömmling (de) m. Icelandic: afkomandi (is) m. Russian: потомок (ru) (potómok) m. Serbian: potomak (sr) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Malay: zuriat

Turkish: evlat, torun, altsoy

See also

• offspring
• offshoot
• progeny

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French

Etymology

From Latin dēscendēns, the present participle of descendere, itself from dē + scandere (“climb, ascend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /de.sɑ̃.dɑ̃/, SAMPA: /de.sA~.dA~/

• audio

  (file)

Verb form

descendant

1. Present participle of descendre.

Noun

descendant m. (plural descendants; feminine descendante, plural descendantes)

1. A descendant; one who is the progeny of someone at any distance of time; e.g. a child; a grandchild, etc.

Antonyms

• ancêtre m.
• ascendant m.

Adjective

descendant m. (f. descendante, m. plural descendants, f. plural descendantes)

1. (which is) descending.

Antonyms

• ascendant
• montant

Related terms

• descendance

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Latin

Verb

dēscendant

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of dēscendō