ascend

English

Etymology

From Middle English ascenden, borrowed from Old French ascendre, from Latin ascendere (“to go up, climb up to”), from ad (“to”) + scandere (“to climb”); see scan. Unrelated to accede other than common ad prefix.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛnd

Verb

ascend (third-person singular simple present ascends, present participle ascending, simple past and past participle ascended)

  1. (intransitive) To move upward, to fly, to soar.
    He ascended to heaven upon a cloud.
  2. (intransitive) To slope in an upward direction.
    The road ascends the mountain.
  3. (transitive) To go up.
    You ascend the stairs and take a right.
  4. (transitive) To succeed.
    She ascended the throne when her mother abdicated.
  5. (figuratively) To rise; to become higher, more noble, etc.
    Our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity.

Antonyms

Translations

See also

Further reading

  • ascend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • ascend in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

French

Verb

ascend

  1. third-person singular present indicative of ascendre
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