descender

English

Etymology

descend +‎ -er (“agent suffix”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsɛndə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɛndə(ɹ)

Noun

descender (plural descenders)

1. A person or thing that descends.
2. (typography) The part of a lowercase letter that is drawn below the bottom of lowercase letters, such as the tail of the letters g, p, and q.
3. (cycling) A cyclist who excels at fast descents.
4. A belay device used in rock climbing

Translations

typography

• Finnish: alapidennys (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: lenyúló szár
• Portuguese: cauda (pt)

Anagrams

• redescend

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• decender (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese decender, borrowed from Latin dēscendere, present active infinitive of dēscendō. Compare descer, probably an inherited doublet.

Verb

1. (intransitive) to descend (to pass from a higher to a lower place)
2. (genealogy, with de) to descend (from) (to have as an ancestor)
3. (etymology, with de) to descend (from) (to have as an etymon)

Synonyms

• (to go down): descer, baixar

Related terms

• ascender
• condescender
• descendente

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Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish decender, decendir, borrowed from Latin dēscendō, dēscendere. Compare also the Old Spanish form deçir, which was likely inherited from the same source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /desθenˈdeɾ/ [d̪es.θẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /desenˈdeɾ/ [d̪e.sẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]

Verb

1. to descend

Derived terms

• descendente
• descendiente

Related terms

• ascender
• condescender
• descendencia
• descenso

Further reading

• Template:R:DRAE 2001