different between descendant vs lineage

English

Etymology

From Middle English dessendaunte, borrowed from Middle French, from Latin d?scend?ns, present participle of descendere, from d? + scandere (“to climb, ascend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??s?nd?nt/
• Hyphenation: des?cen?dant

Adjective

descendant (not comparable)

1. descending from a biological ancestor.
2. proceeding from a figurative ancestor or source.

Usage notes

The adjective may be spelled either with ant or ent as the final syllable (see descendent). The noun may be spelled only with ant.

Alternative forms

• descendent

Antonyms

• ascendant, ascendent, ascending

Related terms

• descendancy

Noun

descendant (plural descendants)

1. One who is the progeny of a specified person, at any distance of time or through any number of generations.

   The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild.

2. (figuratively) A thing that derives directly from a given precursor or source.

   This famous medieval manuscript has many descendants.

3. (biology) A later evolutionary type.

   Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves.

4. (linguistics) A language that is descended from another.

   English and Scots are the descendants of Old English.

5. (linguistics) A word or form in one language that is descended from a counterpart in an ancestor language.
   • 1993, Jens Elmegård Rasmussen, “The Slavic i-verbs with an excursus on the Indo-European ?-verbs”, in Bela Brogyanyi and Reiner Lipp (editors), Comparative-Historical Linguistics, John Benjamins Publishing, ?ISBN, page 479:

   Synonyms: reflex, derivative

   Antonym: etymon

   Coordinate term: cognate

Usage notes

The adjective may be spelled either with ant or ent as the final syllable (see descendent). The noun may be spelled only with ant.

Synonyms

• (offspring): afterbear, offspring, scion, and see Thesaurus:child & relative

Antonyms

• ascendant
• ancestor
• forebear

Derived terms

• direct descendant
• indirect descendant

Translations

See also

• offspring
• offshoot
• progeny

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin d?scend?ns, d?scend?ntem, the present participle of descendere, itself from d? + scandere (“climb, ascend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.s??.d??/

Verb

descendant

1. present participle of descendre
2. (preceded by en) gerund of descendre

Noun

descendant m (plural descendants, feminine descendante)

1. A descendant; one who is the progeny of someone at any distance of time; e.g. a child; a grandchild, etc.

Antonyms

• ancêtre m
• ascendant m

Adjective

descendant (feminine singular descendante, masculine plural descendants, feminine plural descendantes)

1. (which is) descending.

Antonyms

• ascendant
• montant

Derived terms

• compatibilité descendante

Related terms

• descendance
• descendre

Further reading

• “descendant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

d?scendant

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of d?scend?

English

Alternative forms

• linage

Etymology

From Middle English linage, from Old French linage, from ligne, from Latin linea (“line”); equivalent to line +? -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?.ni.?d?/

Noun

lineage (countable and uncountable, plural lineages)

1. Descent in a line from a common progenitor; progeny; descending line of offspring or ascending line of parentage.
2. (advertising) A number of lines of text in a column.
3. A fee or rate paid per line of text.

Related terms

• line
• lineal
• linear

Translations

See also

• genealogy

References

• lineage in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• lineage in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.