ascend

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /əˈsɛnd/ UK /əˈsɛnd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to go up or rise to a higher position

The climbers began to ascend the icy ridge at dawn.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to go up or rise to a... rise climb mount soar scale arise

Opposites

descend fall drop sink plunge

Word family

Derived forms ascendableascenderascending

Related forms ascentascensionascendant ascendancy descend

Simplified etymology

Ascend entered English in the late Middle Ages from a Latin formation containing scandere, “to climb.” The same Latin root produced scala, “ladder,” the source of scale in its musical and graduated-measure senses.

Etymology

From Latin ascendere ('to climb up'), from ad- ('to, toward') + scandere ('to climb').

ascendere Latin scandere Latin *skand- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# ascend

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əˈsɛnd/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈsɛnd/

## Meanings
1. to go up or rise to a higher position

## Examples
- The climbers began to ascend the icy ridge at dawn.

## Synonyms
- rise
- climb
- mount
- soar
- scale
- arise

## Antonyms
- descend
- fall
- drop
- sink
- plunge

## Derived Forms
- ascendable
- ascender
- ascending

## Related Forms
- ascent
- ascension
- ascendant
- ascendancy
- descend

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ascendere
- Root: scandere
- Root: *skand-

## Etymology
From Latin ascendere ('to climb up'), from ad- ('to, toward') + scandere ('to climb').

## AI Etymology
Ascend comes from Latin ascendere ('to climb up'), from ad- ('to, toward') + scandere ('to climb'). The historical trail runs through Latin ascendere, Latin scandere and Proto-Indo-European *skand-. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means to go up or rise to a higher position. Derived formations include ascendable, ascender, ascending; related forms include ascent, ascension, ascendant, ascendancy, descend.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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