descendant

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /dɪˈsɛndənt/ UK /dɪˈsɛndənt/ See IPA manual

noun adj

Meanings

1

noun
a person or thing descended from a particular ancestor

She is a direct descendant of the colony's first governor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person or thing descended... offspring scion heir progeny successor posterity

Opposites

ancestor forebear progenitor

Word family

Forms descendants

Derived forms descendants

Related forms descend descentdescendentascendant

Etymology

From Old French descendant, present participle of descendre ('to descend'), from Latin descendere, from de- ('down') + scandere ('to climb').

descendere Old French scandere Latin *skend- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# descendant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** dɪˈsɛndənt
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈsɛndənt

## Meanings
1. a person or thing descended from a particular ancestor

## Examples
- She is a direct descendant of the colony's first governor.

## Synonyms
- offspring
- scion
- heir
- progeny
- successor
- posterity

## Antonyms
- ancestor
- forebear
- progenitor

## Derived Forms
- descendants

## Related Forms
- descend
- descent
- descendent
- ascendant

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: descendere
- Root: scandere
- Root: *skend-

## Etymology
From Old French descendant, present participle of descendre ('to descend'), from Latin descendere, from de- ('down') + scandere ('to climb').

## AI Etymology
Descendant comes from Old French descendant, present participle of descendre ('to descend'), from Latin descendere, from de- ('down') + scandere ('to climb'). The etymological trail includes Latin descendere, Latin scandere, and Proto-Indo-European *skend-. As a noun, descendant names a person or thing descended from a particular ancestor. The same family is visible in derived forms such as descendants and related forms such as descend, descent, descendent, and ascendant. The analysis is partly morphological, with the modern form built from the elements named in the history.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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descendant

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