descendant
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English dessendaunte, from Middle French, from Latin dēscendēns, present participle of descendere, from dē + scandere (“to climb, ascend”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Adjective [edit]
descendant (not comparable)
- descending from a biological ancestor.
- proceeding from a figurative ancestor or source.
Usage notes [edit]
The adjective may be spelled either with ant or ent as the final syllable (see descendent). The noun may be spelled only with ant.
Alternative forms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Noun [edit]
descendant (plural descendants)
- (literally) One who is the progeny a specified person, at any distance of time or through any number of generations.
- The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild.
- (figuratively) A thing that derives directly from a given precursor or source.
- This famous medieval manuscript has many descendants.
- (biology) A later evolutionary type.
- Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves.
- (linguistics) A language that is descended from another.
- English and Scots are the descendants of Old English.
- (linguistics) A word or form in one language that is descended from a counterpart in an ancestor language.
- 1993, Jens Elmegård Rasmussen, “The Slavic i-verbs with an excursus on the Indo-European ē-verbs”, in Bela Brogyanyi and Reiner Lipp (editors), Comparative-Historical Linguistics, John Benjamins Publishing, ISBN 978-90-272-3598-5, page 479:
- The direct descendant of this form is the Slavic aorist: Sb.-Cr. nȍsī, dȍnosī.
- 1993, Jens Elmegård Rasmussen, “The Slavic i-verbs with an excursus on the Indo-European ē-verbs”, in Bela Brogyanyi and Reiner Lipp (editors), Comparative-Historical Linguistics, John Benjamins Publishing, ISBN 978-90-272-3598-5, page 479:
Usage notes [edit]
The adjective may be spelled either with ant or ent as the final syllable (see descendent). The noun may be spelled only with ant.
Synonyms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
one who is the progeny of someone
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which derives directly from a given precursor or source
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a later evolutionary type
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- 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.
See also [edit]
French [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Latin dēscendēns, the present participle of descendere, itself from dē + scandere (“climb, ascend”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb form [edit]
descendant
- Present participle of descendre.
Noun [edit]
descendant m (plural descendants; feminine descendante, plural descendantes)
- A descendant; one who is the progeny of someone at any distance of time; e.g. a child; a grandchild, etc.
Antonyms [edit]
Adjective [edit]
descendant m (feminine descendante, masculine plural descendants, feminine plural descendantes)
- (which is) descending.
Antonyms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Latin [edit]
Verb [edit]
dēscendant
- third-person plural present active subjunctive of dēscendō
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English nouns
- en:Biology
- en:Linguistics
- en:Family
- French terms derived from Latin
- French present participles
- French nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French countable nouns
- French adjectives
- Latin verb forms
