ascender

English

Etymology

From ascend +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)

Noun

ascender (plural ascenders)

1. A person or thing that ascends.

   Coordinate term: descender

2. (typography, graphology) The portion of a lowercase letter that extends above the midline.

   Coordinate term: descender

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 1, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:

     Catherine had a paperback called Graphology: The Mind in the Hand, which gave her all sorts of warnings about people’s tendencies and repressions (“Artist or Madman?” “Pet or Brute?”). “It's those enormous ascenders, darling,” she said: “I see a lot of ego.”

3. (typography, uncommon) A lowercase letter that has such a portion, such as d or h.

   Coordinate term: descender

4. (climbing) a mechanical device used for ascending on a rope; ascendeur.

Related terms

• ascend
• ascendance
• ascendancy, ascendency
• ascendant
• ascending
• ascent

Translations

typography

• Esperanto: superliniaĵo
• Finnish: yläpidennys (fi)
• German: Oberlänge (de) f
• Hungarian: felnyúló szár
• Irish: éiritheach m
• Portuguese: ascendente (pt) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} hampe (fr), ^{(please verify)} ascendante (fr)

Anagrams

• cedranes, reascend

Interlingua

Verb

ascender

1. to ascend, go up

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ascender

infinitive		ascender
participle		present	perfect
		ascendente	ascendite
active		simple	perfect
	present	ascende	ha ascendite
	past	ascendeva	habeva ascendite
	future	ascendera	habera ascendite
	conditional	ascenderea	haberea ascendite
	imperative	ascende	—
passive		simple	perfect
	present	es ascendite	ha essite ascendite
	past	esseva ascendite	habeva essite ascendite
	future	essera ascendite	habera essite ascendite
	conditional	esserea ascendite	haberea essite ascendite
	imperative	sia ascendite	—

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ascendere.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.sẽˈde(ʁ)/ [a.sẽˈde(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.sẽˈde(ʁ)/ [a.sẽˈde(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /a.sẽˈde(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /a.sẽˈde(ʁ)/ [a.sẽˈde(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /a.sẽˈde(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ɐʃ.sẽˈdeɾ/, /ɐ.ʃẽˈdeɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ɐʃ.sẽˈdeɾ/, /ɐ.ʃẽˈdeɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): (careful pronunciation) /ɐʃ.sẽˈde.ɾi/, /ɐ.ʃẽˈde.ɾi/

• Homophone: acender (chiefly Brazil)
• Hyphenation: as‧cen‧der

Verb

ascender (first-person singular present ascendo, first-person singular preterite ascendi, past participle ascendido)

1. (intransitive) to ascend; to rise

   Synonyms: subir, alçar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ascender (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	ascender
Personal	ascender	ascenderes	ascender	ascendermos	ascenderdes	ascenderem
Gerund
	ascendendo
Past participle
Masculine	ascendido			ascendidos
Feminine	ascendida			ascendidas
Indicative
Present	ascendo	ascendes	ascende	ascendemos	ascendeis	ascendem
Imperfect	ascendia	ascendias	ascendia	ascendíamos	ascendíeis	ascendiam
Preterite	ascendi	ascendeste	ascendeu	ascendemos	ascendestes	ascenderam
Pluperfect	ascendera	ascenderas	ascendera	ascendêramos	ascendêreis	ascenderam
Future	ascenderei	ascenderás	ascenderá	ascenderemos	ascendereis	ascenderão
Conditional	ascenderia	ascenderias	ascenderia	ascenderíamos	ascenderíeis	ascenderiam
Subjunctive
Present	ascenda	ascendas	ascenda	ascendamos	ascendais	ascendam
Imperfect	ascendesse	ascendesses	ascendesse	ascendêssemos	ascendêsseis	ascendessem
Future	ascender	ascenderes	ascender	ascendermos	ascenderdes	ascenderem
Imperative
Affirmative		ascende	ascenda	ascendamos	ascendei	ascendam
Negative (não)		não ascendas	não ascenda	não ascendamos	não ascendais	não ascendam

Related terms

• ascensão
• descender

Further reading

• “ascender”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ascender”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ascendere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /asθenˈdeɾ/ [as.θẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /asenˈdeɾ/ [a.sẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: as‧cen‧der

Verb

ascender (first-person singular present asciendo, first-person singular preterite ascendí, past participle ascendido)

1. to ascend, to mount, to climb

   Antonym: descender

2. (business) to advance
3. (of status) to rise

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ascender (e-ie alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			ascender
gerund			ascendiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		ascendido		ascendida
		plural		ascendidos		ascendidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	asciendo	asciendestú ascendésvos	asciende	ascendemos	ascendéis	ascienden
	imperfect	ascendía	ascendías	ascendía	ascendíamos	ascendíais	ascendían
	preterite	ascendí	ascendiste	ascendió	ascendimos	ascendisteis	ascendieron
	future	ascenderé	ascenderás	ascenderá	ascenderemos	ascenderéis	ascenderán
	conditional	ascendería	ascenderías	ascendería	ascenderíamos	ascenderíais	ascenderían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	ascienda	asciendastú ascendásvos2	ascienda	ascendamos	ascendáis	asciendan
	imperfect (ra)	ascendiera	ascendieras	ascendiera	ascendiéramos	ascendierais	ascendieran
	imperfect (se)	ascendiese	ascendieses	ascendiese	ascendiésemos	ascendieseis	ascendiesen
	future1	ascendiere	ascendieres	ascendiere	ascendiéremos	ascendiereis	ascendieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		asciendetú ascendévos	ascienda	ascendamos	ascended	asciendan
	negative		no asciendas	no ascienda	no ascendamos	no ascendáis	no asciendan

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of ascender (e-ie alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive ascender	dative	ascenderme	ascenderte	ascenderle, ascenderse	ascendernos	ascenderos	ascenderles, ascenderse
	accusative	ascenderme	ascenderte	ascenderlo, ascenderla, ascenderse	ascendernos	ascenderos	ascenderlos, ascenderlas, ascenderse
with gerund ascendiendo	dative	ascendiéndome	ascendiéndote	ascendiéndole, ascendiéndose	ascendiéndonos	ascendiéndoos	ascendiéndoles, ascendiéndose
	accusative	ascendiéndome	ascendiéndote	ascendiéndolo, ascendiéndola, ascendiéndose	ascendiéndonos	ascendiéndoos	ascendiéndolos, ascendiéndolas, ascendiéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative asciende	dative	asciéndeme	asciéndete	asciéndele	asciéndenos	not used	asciéndeles
	accusative	asciéndeme	asciéndete	asciéndelo, asciéndela	asciéndenos	not used	asciéndelos, asciéndelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative ascendé	dative	ascendeme	ascendete	ascendele	ascendenos	not used	ascendeles
	accusative	ascendeme	ascendete	ascendelo, ascendela	ascendenos	not used	ascendelos, ascendelas
with formal second-person singular imperative ascienda	dative	asciéndame	not used	asciéndale, asciéndase	asciéndanos	not used	asciéndales
	accusative	asciéndame	not used	asciéndalo, asciéndala, asciéndase	asciéndanos	not used	asciéndalos, asciéndalas
with first-person plural imperative ascendamos	dative	not used	ascendámoste	ascendámosle	ascendámonos	ascendámoos	ascendámosles
	accusative	not used	ascendámoste	ascendámoslo, ascendámosla	ascendámonos	ascendámoos	ascendámoslos, ascendámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative ascended	dative	ascendedme	not used	ascendedle	ascendednos	ascendeos	ascendedles
	accusative	ascendedme	not used	ascendedlo, ascendedla	ascendednos	ascendeos	ascendedlos, ascendedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative asciendan	dative	asciéndanme	not used	asciéndanle	asciéndannos	not used	asciéndanles, asciéndanse
	accusative	asciéndanme	not used	asciéndanlo, asciéndanla	asciéndannos	not used	asciéndanlos, asciéndanlas, asciéndanse

Related terms

• ascendente
• ascendiente
• ascensión
• ascenso
• ascensor
• descender

Further reading

• “ascender”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025