descendent

Alternative forms

• descendant

Adjective

descendent (not comparable)

1. descending; going down

   The elevator resumed its descendent trajectory.

2. descending from (an ancestor)

   Power in the kingdom is transferred in a descendent manner.

Noun

descendent (plural descendents)

1. Misspelling of descendant.
   • 2002, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Lying on the Postcolonial Couch: The Idea of Indifference (page 216)

     Traces of the answer, I submit, are to be discerned in all writings by the daughters of Sappho or the descendents of the tenth muse […]

Usage notes

The adjective, "descending from a biological ancestor", may be spelt either with an a or with an e in the final syllable (see descendant). However, the noun descendant, "one who is the progeny of someone", may be spelt only with an a.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēscendēns, dēscendēntem.

Adjective

descendent (masculine and feminine plural descendents)

1. descending

Noun

descendent m, f (plural descendents)

1. descendant (one who is the progeny of a specified person)

Verb

descendent

1. third-person plural present indicative of descendre
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of descendre

Verb

dēscendent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of dēscendō

Etymology

Borrowed from French descendant, Latin dēscendēns, dēscendēntem.

Adjective

descendent

1. descendent; descending; that which descends

Noun

descendent m (plural descendenți)

1. descendant