ascendant

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ascendant, from Latin ascendens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈsɛndənt/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

Adjective

ascendant (comparative more ascendant, superlative most ascendant)

1. Rising, moving upward.
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A. Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], OCLC 152706203:

     The constellation […] about that time ascendant.

2. Surpassing or controlling.
   • 1698, Robert South, Twelve Sermons upon Several Subjects and Occasions:

     An ascendant spirit above him.

   • 1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy

     The ascendant community obtained a surplus of wealth.

Translations

Rising, moving upward

• Bulgarian: възходящ (bg) (vǎzhodjašt), изгряващ (bg) (izgrjavašt), издигащ се (izdigašt se)
• Finnish: nouseva (fi), nousussa oleva
• Irish: ardaitheach

• Persian: براینده‎ (barāyande), برآینده‎ (fa) (barāyande), طالع‎ (fa) (tāle)
• Portuguese: ascendente (pt)

Surpassing or controlling

• Bulgarian: господствуващ (bg) (gospodstvuvašt)
• Finnish: nousussa oleva

• Persian: برآینده‎ (fa) (barāyande)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ascendant

Noun

ascendant (plural ascendants)

1. Being in control; superiority, or commanding influence; ascendency.

   One man has the ascendant over another.

   • 1672, William Temple, “An Essay upon the Original and Nature of Government. […]”, in Miscellanea. The First Part. [...], 3rd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], and Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1691, OCLC 1113628240, pages 91–92:

     [T]he Dominion of ſucceeding Favourites [...] occaſioned perpetual commotions in that State, and changes of the Miniſtry; and would certainly have produced thoſe in the Government too; if [Cardinal] Richelieu having gained the abſolute aſcendant in that Court, had not engaged in the deſigns at firſt of a War upon the Hugonots, and after that was ended, upon Spain; [...]

   • 1769, William Robertson, History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V:

     Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a parent.

2. An ancestor (antonym of descendant)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ayliffe to this entry?)

3. (usu. followed by to) A royal heir assuming (a place of power)

   Given his father’s ghastly demise, one would not expect such glee from the ascendant to his throne.

4. Ascent; height; elevation.
5. (astrology) The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's life and fortune.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burke to this entry?)

Translations

being in control

• Bulgarian: власт (bg) (vlast), влияние (bg) (vlijanie)

• Finnish: valta-asemassa oleva

An ancestor

• Bulgarian: предшественик (bg) (predšestvenik)
• Finnish: esi-isä (fi)

• German: Vorfahr (de) m
• Portuguese: ascendente (pt) m or f
• Romanian: strămoș (ro) m, predecesor (ro) m

Related terms

• ascend
• ascent
• ascendance
• ascendancy/ascendency
• ascending
• ascender

Anagrams

• adnascent

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ascendens, ascendentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.sɑ̃.dɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

ascendant

1. present participle of ascendre

Adjective

ascendant (feminine singular ascendante, masculine plural ascendants, feminine plural ascendantes)

1. ascendant

Derived terms

• compatibilité ascendante

Noun

ascendant m (plural ascendants)

1. (astrology) ascendant
2. supremacy, ascendancy

   L'équipe adverse a repris l'ascendant du match. ― The opposing team regained the supremacy of the match.

3. (genealogy) ancestor, forefather, progenitor

Further reading

• “ascendant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Latin

Verb

ascendant

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of ascendō