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descentn. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French descent. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman descent, decent, decente, desente, dessente, discent, discente, dissente, Anglo-Norman and Middle French descente (French descente ) transmission by inheritance (a1267 in Anglo-Norman; late 13th cent. in Anglo-Norman in descente del heritage ), act of moving down (a1282 in Anglo-Norman in a 14th-cent. manuscript), lawful descendants, heirs (c1300 in Anglo-Norman), succession, direct line of inheritance, record of lineage (all early 14th cent. in Anglo-Norman), act of disembarking (end of the 14th cent. in Middle French), (of a divine being) act of moving down to earth (15th cent.), incursion into, invasion of (a country, etc.) (15th cent.), irregularly < descendre descend v., after e.g. attente attent n. (beside attendre attend v.), vente vent n.3 (beside vendre vend v.). Compare later descence n.With the β. forms compare dis- prefix and β. forms at descend v. (see also discussion at that entry). The semantic development of the noun is influenced by that of descend v. I. The action or fact of coming down by generation or inheritance, and related senses. 1. a1325 Statutes of Realm in f. 65 Him bi houez tellen þoru descent of deseisine..ant ther oppe offren wi he desresonede. a1449 J. Lydgate (1911) i. 5 Of þis lord þe gret rightwysnesse, Meynt with his mercy by lyneal discent, Shal sprede to children þat doon hir bysynesse For to obserue..his testament. 1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville (Caxton) iv. vii. f. lxjv To whome the synne of Adam hath atteyned by..descent of kyndely herytage. 1566 T. Heskyns Prol. sig. Aiij,v Thus haue ye nowe seen the wholl descent of this heresie against the blessed Sacrament, euen from Berengarius the first open teacher of the same, vnto Luther and Occolampadius. 1581 R. Mulcaster xxxix. 201 His parentes begate him, who had not at commaundement the discent of their vertues, which made them noble. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer ii. 156 His incorrupted sceptre..his sceptre of descent. 1690 J. Locke (1960) i. §94. 229 If the Agreement and consent of Men first gave a Scepter into any ones hand,..that also must direct its descent and conveyance. 1723 R. Blackmore 6 Intoxicated with wild and extravagant Notions about the Nature and Descent of the Regal Power,..they became perfect Enthusiasts in Matters of Government. a1783 H. Brooke (1789) ii. ii. 24 As for me, neighbours—look ye—I am out of the point. I have a dispensation from religion—my grandfather was a nobleman's bastard, and I am a freethinker by descent. 1862 J. Ruskin (1880) 5 If the qualities are continued by descent through a generation or two. 1960 R. Cox 361 The Levitical priests received their priesthood by descent. 1995 D. P. Jordan vii. 179 The rules fixed by Napoléon I..restricted the descent of a new title in the collateral line. society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 243 To haf þe scheld þorgh heritage descent. a1475 J. Fortescue (Laud) (1885) 130 The grete lordis off þe lande by reason off nev dissentes ffallyng vnto ham, by reason also off mariages, purchasses, and oþer titles, shall often tymes growe to be gretter than thai be now. a1475 in A. Clark (1906) ii. 395 (MED) With all rightes and clayme that [s]he had or myght have by descent or by a-chete or by ony maner right in all the forsaid londes and tenementis. 1523 J. Fitzherbert Prol. sig. B2v Than if the owner make a true pee, degre, or conueyaunce, by discente or by purchace vnto the said landes. 1579 (new ed.) f. 129 The vnity of possession in the Lorde frustrate the custome of Gauelkind discent. 1628 E. Coke 13 b Discent signifieth when lands do by right of blood fall unto any after the death of his ancestors. 1661 J. Stephens 56 So warranty is extinguished by Re-infeoffment or Descent of Land to the same person that had the Warranty. a1726 G. Gilbert (1738) 21 The Relief was in the Nature of a new Purchase upon every Descent; for then it did again fall into the Lord's Hands, till it was relieved out of his Hands by such Payment. 1766 W. Blackstone II. xiv. 220 The first purchasor..is he who first acquired the estate to his family, whether the same was transferred to him by sale, or by gift, or by any other method, except only that of descent. 1818 W. Cruise (ed. 2) I. 303 That fines should be paid upon admittance, as well upon alienation as descent. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards xxiii. 177 No real property..can pass otherwise than by grant by deed..or by descent or devise, whereas mere personal property will pass by delivery from hand to hand. 1919 28 713 The settlor's heirs..would take, if at all, by descent and not by purchase. 2005 L. Walzer ii. 213 Tenancy by the entirety..allows for the automatic descent of property to the surviving spouse without probate. 2. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) (1973) l. 7642 Þe lond þat com of Hermesente Was Ywains þurth riȝt decente. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vii. l. 4129 Which rihtfull heir was be descente. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 249 Þis ilk þre barons, þorgh descent of blode, Haf right & resons to þe coroune. c1425 J. Lydgate (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 1348 (MED) Borne, by discent, of þe blood roial. a1500 (?c1440) J. Lydgate Horse, Goose & Sheep (Lansd.) l. 324 in (1934) ii. 552 Crist which lyneali doun cam, Bi descent conveide the peedegre Fro the Patriarch i-callid Abraham. 1559 W. Baldwin et al. Tresilian v By discent a gentleman. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. J. L. G. de Balzac 123 I would draw his descent from Hector, or Achilles. 1662 E. Stillingfleet ii. ii. 133 In Moses his time it was a very easie matter to run up their lineall descent as far as the flood. 1728 E. Young Love of Fame iii, in (1757) I. 104 A Welch descent, which well-paid heralds damn; Or, longer still, a Dutchman's epigram. 1765 W. Blackstone I. 197 The usurpers..for the most part endeavoured to vamp up some feeble shew of a title by descent. 1847 J. Yeowell xiii. 141 A chieftain of imperial descent. 1881 R. L. Stevenson 194 We should consider ourselves unworthy of our descent if we did not share the arrogance of our progenitors. 1950 52 i. 2 We may differentiate unilineal descent groups from a kinship system proper. 1970 L. E. Sweet 23 This lineage and other lineages in the latter communities claim descent from the Merinids. 2001 H. Gilbert 275/1 If the actor playing the Woman is of Asian descent, this moment, in performance, is purposely incongruous and destabilising. the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] > origination or derivation 1532 Remedy of Love in f. ccclxviii/1 Ransake yet we wolde..Of this worde the trewe ortography The very discent and ethymology. 1654 J. Ellistone & J. Sparrow tr. J. Böhme x. 37 The Good hath its rise Originally out of the good or heavenly Property, and the Evill hath its descent from the property of the darke world. 1707 tr. P. Le Lorrain de Vallemont Pref. 4 Whenever I cannot fully discover the Rise and Descent of any Effect. 1747 S. Johnson 15 In exhibiting the descent of our language, our etymologists seem to have been too lavish of their learning. 1803 9 108 Its visitation..in the present year, is deducible from a similar descent. 1853 F. Molina 8 Here we find one of the contestants: Costa Rica with its descent from Central America and Guatemala. 1937 (Pennsylvania Hist. Comm.) 177 This school claims direct descent from the old school of the same name. 2014 J. Turner i. iv. 99 The concept of language families formed by genealogical descent gave students of language a novel way to classify languages. the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [noun] 1638 T. Herbert (rev. ed.) ii. 192 Many Camells abound here..The Dromodarie and it are of one descent, but varie according to the Countrie. 1859 C. Darwin x. 333 On the theory of descent with modification. 1871 C. Darwin (title) The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. 1884 J. Fiske xiv. 366 The researches..into the palæontology of the horse have established beyond question the descent of the genus equus from a five-toed mammal. 1925 E. B. Wilson (ed. 3) iv. 312 We can actually trace their line of ontogenic descent or germ-line backwards to early stages of development. 1986 A. S. Romer & T. S. Parsons (ed. 6) iii. 54 In considering the descent of terrestrial vertebrates, the Sarcopterygii are the most important of the two. 2007 L. M. Chiappe Pref. p. vii Methods and concepts used for establishing descent among organisms. †3. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng (Petyt) ii. 206 Elizabeth þe gent, fair lady was sche, Tuo sons of þer descent, tuo douhters ladies fre. 1563 L. Humphrey ii. sig. L.i Nothynge weygh your discents, your petigrees, though fette from farthest auncientye. 1594 in H. Paton (1904) 39 Johnne, Erll of Mar,..quha..be thre discentis togidder hes had the custodie..of the soverane princes of this realme. 1605 R. Verstegan iii. 63 Of whose descents are since issued, the greatest princes at this present in Germanie. 1618 G. Chapman tr. Hesiod i. 228 Then form'd our Father Jove a Third Descent, Whose Age was Brazen. 1748 H. Walpole 11 Aug. (1941) IX. 68 In this search, I have crossed upon another descent..and that is a probability of my being descended from Chaucer. 1907 Sept. 221/1 The ‘Abrach’ branch of the Clan Mackay, an honourable descent still indicated by their local designation of the ‘MacNeills’. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > descendant > [noun] society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > descendant > [noun] > collectively c1475 (?c1451) (Royal) (1860) 23 The noble actys of the seyd erles of Angew wyth her lynealle dessentys. 1550 T. Nicolls tr. Thucydides i. i. f. xvi The Pelopides, to wit, the discente of Pelops were more myghtye than the Persydes, to wytt, the descente of Perseus. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny I. 67 Augusta of the Taurines, an ancient descent from the Ligurians. ?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer (new ed.) vi. 22 She went Up to the chamber, where the fair descent Of great Alcinous slept. 1667 J. Milton x. 979 Our descent..Which must be born to certain woe, devourd By Death at last. View more context for this quotation society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > degree in descent 1538 T. Elyot at Trinepos, potis He which is thre discentes lyneall from my chyldes chylde. 1548 f. xxx Whiche house..enioyed the same [crown] thre discentes. 1593 T. Bilson 7 Euen twelue descents after the flood. a1645 J. Philipot (1659) 195 But in the next Descent, this Family was entombed in two Daughters and Coheirs. 1673 J. Ray 308 Such as can prove their Gentility for three or four Descents. 1713 T. Tickell in 17 Apr. 190 Their Generation was very long-lived, there having been but four Descents in above two thousand Years. 1765 W. Blackstone I. 197 After a breach of the succession that continued for three descents. 1818 H. Hallam I. v. 456 A lineal succession of four descents without the least opposition. 1895 25 July 70/1 It is useless to add the opinions of later generations to the same effect, the authority lessening with each descent. II. The action, process, or fact of moving down or into a lower position. 5. the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > [noun] a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) i. l. 319 Lest fully þe descente Of scorn fille on hym self. 1647 H. More 47 Th' Onites Democracy Is nought but a large hungry tyrant-train: Oppression from the poore is an all-sweeping rain. A sweeping torrent that..with swift descent so hideously doth rore. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato I. 153 The descent of a great storm may make the pilot helpless. 1875 R. Browning 103 My worst fancy that could spoil the smooth Of pillow, and arrest descent of sleep. 1891 Feb. 389 The descent of the mist..‘puts down’ the trout and prevents them from feeding. 1918 S. Perlman in J. R. Commons et al. II. vi. xiii. 472 Formerly it [sc. the labour movement] had centred on economic or trade union action during prosperity and then abruptly changed to panaceas and politics with the descent of depression. 1973 25 Jan. 4 a/3 We are witnessing the descent of peace upon an area that has known only war and occupation for a generation, or simply a time to bury the dead. 2014 (Nexis) 11 Dec. (Sport section) 36 The beginning was the end, the scoreboard finally having to drag the nameboard for Johnson out at 5.51pm, just ahead of the gloom's descent. society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > [noun] > downwards c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius (Linc. Cathedral 103) 331 Bot þat þe sonne riseþ verrayment, Lo of necessite it hath dissent. 1590 J. Smythe 28 In their discents and fall. 1596 Z. Jones tr. M. Barleti vii. 265 Amese the Christian..was sent by his Vncle to the other side of the mountaine, where the descent was more facile and easie. 1609 W. Shakespeare v. ii. 178 Not the dreadfull spout..Shal dizzy with more clamour Neptunes eare, in his discent . View more context for this quotation 1611 T. Coryate sig. Iv The descent of the mountaine I found more wearysome..then the ascent. 1672 E. Brown tr. P. Chevalier 144 The Tartars possessed themselves of divers little Hills, from whence there was an easie descent. 1698 J. Keill (1734) 163 The great resistance they met with in their descent through the Air. 1748 I. 95 The Sides high Marble Clifts, not difficult of Descent. a1749 P. Cockburn (1750) ii. ii. 242 That prodigious bulk of earth thus scooped up by the descent of the waters must have been at last carried into the alveus of the ocean. 1786 T. Baldwin iii. 19 Probably the Balloon may act as a Parashute or Umbrella, which alone will, at all Times, ensure an easy Descent. 1807 T. Young I. xxviii. 327 A bucket wheel is the reverse of an overshot waterwheel, and the water may be raised by buckets nearly similar to those which are calculated for receiving it in its descent. 1838 1 328/1 Certain Improvements in the Construction of Railroads and Tramroads to facilitate the ascent and descent of Hills and inclined Planes. 1881 Dec. 107/1 His descent from the West Mountain. 1937 Aug. 93/1 It is the ascent from, and the descent to, the planets which calls for a prohibitive amount of power. 1998 7 Nov. (Travel section) 11/3 Although they still perform cliff-jumping stunts and descents of steep gradients, extreme skiers themselves have decided that they would now like to be called ‘free-skiers’. 2004 I. McDonald (2005) xxviii. 333 The lift jerks and begins its descent. society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > biblical events > [noun] > descent into hell society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [noun] > low pitch > decrease of pitch 1604 T. Bilson 317 The visible descent of the holie Ghost vpon him at his baptisme. 1610 J. Sanford tr. St. Hilary in tr. P. Du Moulin ii. xxi. 397 It is the law of necessitie whereunto men are subiect, that the soules should descend vnto hell after that the bodies are buried, which descent Iesus Christ himselfe did not refuse. 1628 H. Burton sig. I3v The Author is very skilfull to tell vs the punctuall time of Christs Descent into Hell. 1653 J. Norton i. xii. 109 Others alledge the Article of Christs Descent, to prove, that Christ suffered the torments of hell in his soul for our Redemption. 1659 J. Pearson (1839) 319 It is to be observed, that the descent into hell was not in the ancient creeds or rules of faith. 1729 ‘C. Fell’ I. 34 This Descent is no where mention'd in the Gospel. 1843 1 Oct. 369 The Persians initiate the mystic by a mystification of the descent and reascending of souls. 1866 G. MacDonald (1878) vii. 125 I do not think the descent to Avernus is always easy. 1868 J. H. Macmahon tr. St. Hippolytus v. vii. 156 Christ descended from above from unorigination, that by his descent all things triply divided might be saved. 1875 X. 205/2 The Sæmundic Edda, in which is narrated the descent of Odin to the Scandinavian hell in order to consult the prophetess Angarbodi. 1890 May 365 We go back to those blessed Nine Days that elapsed between the ascent of our Lord into heaven and the descent of the Holy Ghost on pentecost day. 1899 20 125 Al-Ghazzālī has taken us into his confidence, and laid before us, step by step, his doubting youth, his descent into the abyss of scepticism, and his gradual re-ascent to light and faith. 1913 W. H. G. Thomas i. v. 42 To the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost may be said to be analogous to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Christ at his baptism. 1989 Spring 7/1 Check-in was a sick, twisted nightmare, a horrible phantasmal descent into the worst psychotic hell of a strung out convention junkie. 2007 14 Sept. 23/2 He could not be the Christ without going through forsakenness and descent into hell. 1632 E. Reynolds 155 How could I sufficiently wonder at that secret vertue, and those strange impressions which did retardate the naturall descent of so weightie a body? 1680 R. Hooke Let. 17 Jan. in I. Newton (1960) II. 313 It now remaines to know the proprietys of a curve line made by a centrall attractive power which makes the velocitys of Descent from the tangent Line. a1774 O. Goldsmith (1776) I. 153 The curve of a cycloid, which was afterwards called by the hard name of a Brachystochrone, or the line of quickest descent. 1862 7 June 594/1 During the descent of the diving-bell, the compressed air in the bell exercises great pressure on the outer surface of the drums of the ears. 1930 21 Feb. 240/1 The last part of the lecture was devoted mainly to a discussion of vertical descent. 2014 15 Aug. 8/2 Miura skied down Everest, using a parachute to slow his descent. 1718 R. Samber tr. C. Ancillon 25 We ought not always to judge ill of the Virility of a Man who has no visible Testicles, because it sometimes happens, that they remain higher up in the Body, and do not come down by some Obstacle or Impediment which hinders their Descent [Fr. leur sortie]. 1762 J. Hunter in W. Hunter i. ix. 83 The testis is directed in its descent by the gubernaculum. 1826 S. Cooper (ed. 5) ii. xxxvi. 495 The formation of such adhesions between the bowels and testis before birth, may also sometimes prevent..its descent. 1888 3 31 There is some connection between descent of the testis and the descent of the colon. 1933 8 394/2 A periodic descent of the testes in certain hibernating mammals following a rise in body temperature upon awakening. 1964 20 June 1621/3 Failure of descent of the thyroid is now recognized to be the common cause of juvenile hypothyroidism. 2004 (Compact ed.) 4 Feb. 48/1 At birth, it appears as cryptorchidism—the incomplete descent of the one testis or both testes into the scrotum. 1725 109 Descent is the same as we mean by Descent, that is, a coming down, but peculiarly us'd by French Heralds thus, a Lyon en Descent, a Lyon coming down.] 1727 N. Bailey II. (at cited word) A lion in descent. 1728 E. Chambers (at cited word) A Lyon en Descent, is a Lion with his Head to one of the base Points. 6. concrete. the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [noun] > downward 1485 W. Caxton tr. sig. aiiiv By cause ther was moch blood of her shed in ye welle & ye descente of ye hylle, ye stones yet in to this day appiere..al besparklyd with blood. 1549 W. Thomas f. 161 I thynke the stipe descent of the hill causeth, that they haue not roome enough to make theyr stretes large. 1591 E. Spenser Virgil's Gnat in sig. H2v Spread themselues farre abroad through each descent. 1611 Luke xix. 37 At the descent of the mount of Oliues. View more context for this quotation 1659 W. Chamberlayne ii. iv. sig. L1 The stately Mount..to meet the Vale stole down On soft descents. 1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti I. 10/2 If it stands upon a Descent. 1794 W. Combe I. 262 The rectory is a spacious house, of an agreeable appearance, situate on the descent of an hill. 1849 J. Wilson in July 19 This side of the glen..is known to be a descent but by the pretty little cataractettes playing at leap-frog. 1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid vi, in tr. 271 Massive ash-trees roll from the mountains down the descent. 1942 O. D. von Engeln xix. 468 They [sc. fiords] are closed at the seaward end by a distinct rock sill at shallow depth, beyond which the descent to the deeper ocean waters begins. 2004 Mar. 36 The Kranzberg proved to be a superb viewpoint, with a narrow summit ridge, just skiable for half of its length, and an excellent descent. society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, passage, or means of access to a place > [noun] > downwards 1566 W. Painter I. xxxix. f. 101v Into whiche Caue was a discente, by a secrete paire of staiers, that was in one of the lowest chambers of the pallaice. a1640 P. Massinger & J. Fletcher Very Woman iv. ii. 14 in P. Massinger (1655) Fitting his Chamber With trap-doors, and descents. 1670 E. Browne Let. 21 Mar. in H. Oldenburg (1969) VI. 588 The steepe descents in this mine are made by ladders or trees set upright with deep notches or stayers cut in them to stay the foot upon. 1706 (new ed.) Descent into the Moat or Ditch. 1738 tr. C. Rollin (ed. 2) II. 18 Descents by steps to the river. 1745 R. Pococke II. ii. 73 There were about fourty-three degrees of seats, and eleven descents down from the top..those descents are made by dividing each seat into two steps. 1803 C. James (1810) (at cited word) Descents into the Ditch (descentes dans le fossé), cuts and excavations made by means of saps in the counterscarp beneath the covert way [i.e. to enable the besiegers to cross the ditch]. 1886 J. Ruskin II. vi. 199 The rampart walk, unbroken except by descents and ascents at the gates. 1905 S. D. Thompson V. cl. 664 Since open basement descents are necessary to the business of a city. 2010 B. Freemantle x. 103 He found rational thinking difficult as he was humiliatingly escorted along linking corridors to the basement descent. 1608 W. Shakespeare xxiv. 134 From the'xtreamest vpward of thy head, To the descent and dust beneath thy feet. View more context for this quotation 1883 R. A. Proctor 285 When the sun is just beginning to rise above his lowest mid-winter descent below the equator. 7. figurative. the mind > emotion > humility > humiliation > [noun] > fact of being humiliated 1533 tr. Erasmus xxxi. sig. N.v Slypper veryly and easy is the fall or discente [L. lapsus] in to fylthynesse. 1667 J. Milton ix. 163 O foul descent! that I who erst contended With Gods to sit the highest, am now constraind Into a Beast, and mixt with bestial slime. View more context for this quotation 1690 J. Locke iv. xvi. 339 Observing..such gradual and gentle descents downwards in those parts of the Creation, that are beneath Man. 1760 C. Johnstone I. i. v. 29 Though my whole life was one continued scene of villany, yet in all, there was a gradation, a regular descent from bad to worse. 1845 T. Cooper II. 36 To shorten the melancholy story of his deeper descent into wretchedness. 1889 26 Oct. 540 Since the descent to household suffrage. 1984 6 Nov. 6 Her descent from the giddy heights allowed a lot of people to make unnecessarily catty and destructive comments about her. 2011 12 July 25/3 She and Waits split up, there was a descent into drug abuse and Jones lit out for New York. 1585 E. D. sig. B.iv The bouye being one discent more from nothing then the soule, is by many degrees further from all vertue then the same. 1589 R. Greene sig. D4 Her birth was by manie degrees greater than mine, and my woorth by manie discents lesse than hers. 1667 J. Milton viii. 410 Infinite descents Beneath what other Creatures are to thee. View more context for this quotation 1725 E. Young 8 With what a decent pride he throws his eyes Above the man by Three Descents less Wise? the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > [noun] > volume of voice (for recording) > lowering of voice the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] 1581 R. Mulcaster x. 58 Their perorations, and closinges, with a discent, and fall of the voice. 1763 J. Brown v. 64 The modern Chromatic Kind is an incidental Ascent or Descent by Half-Notes, with a variable Intervention of whole Notes. 1832 W. Macgillivray i. 24 The proximity of a sand-bank is indicated by a rapid descent of the temperature of the sea at its surface. 1918 A. R. Cushny (ed. 7) iii. ii. 631 Mercury salts injected into the bloodvessels of mammals have been found to cause a sudden descent of the blood-pressure and paralysis of the heart. 1965 S. Erdely 119 The melodic descent in bar six corresponds in the spirit of pentatonism. 1992 D. Lessing p. iii Somewhere in the highlands of Africa and Asia the long Tertiary descent of temperature began. 9. Often with on or upon. society > armed hostility > attack > [noun] > sudden or surprise attack 1587 A. Fleming 3rd Table Chron. Eng. sig. D.iiiv/3, in A. Fleming et al. (new ed.) III Theobald of Champaigne his descent in armes against the French king. 1613 R. Dallington xvi. 177 Fearing..the descent of the French army into those parts, and greater danger that way, he sendeth secretly to the King. 1698 tr. F. Froger 26 It was determin'd to make a Descent upon the Country, to take the King Prisoner. 1759 S. Johnson I. vi. 41 Even this valley, the retreat of princes, the abode of happiness, might be violated by the sudden descent of some of the naked nations that swarm on the coast of the southern sea. 1776 E. Gibbon I. xii. 339 They..indulged their appetite for revenge and plunder, by frequent descents on the unsuspecting shores of Asia, Greece, and Africa. 1830 W. Scott Old Mortality Introd., in (new ed.) I. 222 Argyle was threatening a descent upon Scotland. 1874 J. R. Green vii. §8. 430 A daring descent of the English forces upon Cadiz. 1915 J. M. Hammond 107 In 1688, Sir Edmund Andros, Governor of Massachusetts, made a sudden descent upon Castine, the town, and plundered the place. 1999 E. M. Wait xi. 96 One of his ideas was to make a mass descent upon his East India convoys on occasion. society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > a visit to a place 1879 C. Tyrrell tr. ‘E. Werner’ I. 101 The clerks therein employed were never safe from a sudden and unforeseen descent of the master. 1929 17 Aug. 1/6 His wife's descents on dressmaking establishments. 1950 A. Nevins I. iii. 74 When the President-elect made his unexpected descent on Washington, Douglas visited him. 1970 16 July 18/1 Mother's Help or Nannie required..to cope with happy two year old, busy telephone and imminent descent of house-decorators. 1997 (Nexis) 8 May (Features section) 12 She was trying to be appreciative of Rex and Mal's descent upon her home. 2013 A. D. Needham iii. 95 Riyaz, an orphan brought up by his grandmother, is particularly resentful of Mammo's sudden descent on their small household. the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [noun] 1613 J. Yakesley tr. St. Francis de Sales ii. vi. 145 The like descent to particular purposes of amendment, must be made in all other generall affections. 1642 Bp. J. Taylor (1647) 35 What also the faith of Christendome was concerning the Minister of confirmation..I shall make evident in the descent of this discourse. 1655 T. Stanley I. ii. 19 These five, Anaximander, Anaximenes Thales, Anaxagoras, Archelaus, by continuall desent succeding one another, compleat the Ionick sect. 1779 H. Downman iv. i. 83 Lay with Lucretia—Need I to repeat it? 'Tis what my tongue could dwell upon with rapture, Through th'infinite descent of rolling ages. 1811 M. Brunton II. xx. 146 In general, she saw that her aunt's understanding was bright;..but the descent to particulars baffled Laura's penetration. 1891 1 630 It is only at the heights that contemplation ‘reigns and revels’. The descent to particulars is broken and treacherous. 1919 H. McLachlan i. 12 His sermons were denounced as ‘unmethodistical’, without any descent to details. 2009 (Nexis) 7 Dec. a9 John Robson's descent into the details of Ian Plimer's book..seems to have affected his perspective. the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > distillation > descent distillation 1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré xxviii. xvii. 1112 Other things whose juice cannot be got out by expression, must bee distilled by descent [L. per descensum]. 1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Rivière vi. i. 133 The Oyl is made of Box cut in smal pieces, and then Distilled by descent [L. destillatur per descensum], in two Vessels. 1841 J. Pilkington (1857) 29 Chemists call this a distillation by descent, when the fire is at the top and round the vessel, the orifice of which is at the bottom. 1940 32 273 Included are the furnaces..a descensory, that is a vessel or retort used in distillation by descent; and pestles. Phrases P1. 1662 J. Evelyn iv. 72 Pandern's descent from the Crosse. 1671 H. Hallywell iii. 68 If Jesus were the Son of God, he must needs demonstrate it by a miraculous Descent from the Cross. 1706 J. Savage tr. R. de Piles 259 There are a great many Pictures of his Drawing at Antwerp, and among others a Descent from the Cross, in our Ladies Church. 1722 J. Richardson 286 The Descent from the Cross, a Picture extremely applauded; I cannot tell why; 'tis in my Apprehension a Vile one. 1806 R. Heber Jrnl. in A. Heber (1830) I. 164 Their Churches are full of martyrdoms, and their houses of battle-pieces; to say nothing of the dead Christs and descents from the cross. 1848 A. Jameson I. 358 In the Descent or Deposition from the Cross, and in the Entombment, Mary Magdalene is generally conspicuous. 1898 10 Feb. 6/3 Under the lunetta is the Descent from the Cross, the Madonna kneeling. 1904 H. Adams viii. 134 On the left is Christ on the Cross, and on the right a Descent from the Cross. 1937 Aug. 84/1 The Descent from the Cross..should be compared with the miniature representing the same subject. 2003 R. Taylor 76 In the Descent from the Cross, or ‘the Deposition’, Jesus's blood-streaked body is brought down from the Cross, as St John, the Virgin Mary, and St Mary Magdalene look on. P2. 1608 Bp. T. Morton 93 Hee is in degree of kindred vnto the father of lies, in which line of descent I feare P. R. will appeare to be. a1683 A. Sidney (1704) iii. xxx. 361 An uninterruptible Line of Descent. 1714 J. Asgill 44 Those who were first in the Line of Descent, have at length gain'd the Crown, notwithstanding all Parliamentary Provisions to the contrary. 1798 W. Coxe I. ii. 8 When they found it necessary to break the hereditary line of descent, they made the deviation as small as possible..and re-established it in the same manner as it existed before that breach was made. 1869 C. Darwin (ed. 5) xiii. 515 Professor Häckel in his ‘Generelle Morphologie’..has recently brought his great knowledge and abilities to bear on what he calls phylogeny, or the lines of descent of all organic beings. 1905 5 May 2 He was by every line of descent an F.F.V. 1949 24 204/1 Probably the majority of recent students have regarded the human line of descent as having separated from the pongid or great-ape stock just before or at about the time that the latter split into its modern forms. 1988 H. L. Gates in H. A. Jacobs Foreword p. x That the progenitor of the black literary tradition was a woman means, in the most strictly literal sense, that all subsequent black writers have evolved in a matrilinear line of descent. 2006 4 Mar. 16/4 Castorocauda lies outside the line of descent to all modern mammals, so it is a mammaliaform rather than a true mammal. Compounds a1626 F. Bacon (1630) 3 If I make a feoffment in fee, vpon condition that the feoffee shall enfeoffe over, and the feoffee be disseised, and a discent [be] cast.] a1726 G. Gilbert (1754) 60 The Disseisee may enter and occupy the Land before the Descent cast. 1793 C. Watkins i. 33 Where lands descend to an heir who is married at the time of the descent cast. a1845 H. J. Stephen (1868) III. 518 An Act was passed in the year 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 27) containing..the provisions..that no descent cast or discontinuance happening after 31st Dec. 1833, should toll or defeat any right of entry or action for the recovery of land. 1921 34 610 Henceforth it was only a descent cast that would toll an entry. 1999 43 166 A court held that the naturalization of the alien many years after the descent cast would not be deemed retroactive. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.a1325 |
