- (v.i.) To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.
- (v.i.) To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.
- (v.i.) To come down, as from a source, original or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.
- (v.t.) To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder.
- (v.i.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.
- (v.i.) To make an attack or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon.
- (v.i.) To enter mentally; to retire.
- (v.i.) To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend.
- (v.i.) To move toward the south or to the southward.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). Descend. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/descend/definitions/1996506 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "Descend" http://smartdefine.org/descend/definitions/1996506 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, Descend, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/descend/definitions/1996506>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "Descend" 27 May 2011. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/descend/definitions/1996506> |