different between descendent vs descendant

English

Alternative forms

• descendant

Adjective

descendent (not comparable)

1. descending; going down

   The elevator resumed its descendent trajectory.

2. descending from (an ancestor)

   Power in the kingdom is transferred in a descendent manner.

Translations

Noun

descendent (plural descendents)

1. Misspelling of descendant.
   • 2002, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Lying on the Postcolonial Couch: The Idea of Indifference (page 216)

     Traces of the answer, I submit, are to be discerned in all writings by the daughters of Sappho or the descendents of the tenth muse […]

Usage notes

The adjective, "descending from a biological ancestor", may be spelt either with an a or with an e in the final syllable (see descendant). However, the noun descendant, "one who is the progeny of someone", may be spelt only with an a.

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin d?scend?ns, d?scendentem.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /d?.s?n?dent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /d?.s?n?den/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /de.sen?dent/

Adjective

descendent (masculine and feminine plural descendents)

1. descending

Antonyms

• ascendent

Noun

descendent m or f (plural descendents)

1. descendant (one who is the progeny of a specified person)

Related terms

• descendir

French

Verb

descendent

1. third-person plural present indicative of descendre
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of descendre

Latin

Verb

d?scendent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of d?scend?

Polish

Etymology

From French descendant, from Latin d?scend?ns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?s?t?s?n.d?nt/

Noun

descendent m pers

1. (law, archaic) descendant

   Synonyms: zst?pny, potomek

   Antonyms: wst?pny, ascendent, antenat, przodek

Declension

Further reading

• descendent in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• descendent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French descendant, Latin d?scend?ns, d?scend?ntem.

Adjective

descendent m or n (feminine singular descendent?, masculine plural descenden?i, feminine and neuter plural descendente)

1. descendent; descending; that which descends

Declension

Noun

descendent m (plural descenden?i, feminine equivalent descendent?)

1. descendant

Declension

Related terms

• descinde

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?