- (n.) Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy.
- (n.) Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction.
- (n.) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity.
- (n.) Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc.
- (n.) That which is descended; descendants; issue.
- (n.) A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.
- (n.) The act of descending or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.
- (n.) Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.
- (n.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.
- (n.) Lowest place; extreme downward place.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). descent. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/descent/definitions/1996519 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "descent" http://smartdefine.org/descent/definitions/1996519 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, descent, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/descent/definitions/1996519>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "descent" 27 May 2011. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/descent/definitions/1996519> |