DESCENT

descent. Descent, n. a slope, invasion, family, birth, step

---

De‐scent″ (?), n. [[F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente, from vendre. See Descend.]] 1. 1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.
2. 2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; — often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy.
The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts. Jortin. 3. 3. 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.
2. 2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction. Dryden.
5. 5. (Law) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity. Abbott.
6. 6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.
7. 7. That which is descended; descendants; issue.
If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must be born to certain woe. Milton. 8. 8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.
No man living is a thousand descents removed from Adam himself. Hooker. 9. 9. Lowest place; extreme downward place.
And from the extremest upward of thy head, To the descent and dust below thy foot. Shak. 10. 10. (Mus.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.
Syn. — Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage; assault; invasion; attack.