descender

Etymology

descend +‎ -er (“agent suffix”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) 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

Anagrams

• redescend

Alternative forms

• decender (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Verb

descender (first-person singular present indicative descendo, past participle descendido)

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)

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^[1].

Pronunciation

• (Castilian) IPA^(key): /desθenˈdeɾ/, [d̪esθẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
• (Latin America) IPA^(key): /dessenˈdeɾ/, [d̪essẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]

Verb

descender (first-person singular present desciendo, first-person singular preterite descendí, past participle descendido)

1. to descend

Further reading

• “descender” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

References