A descent is a movement from a higher to a lower level or position.
During their descent from the summit, a storm swept in.
...the crash of an Airbus A300 on its descent into Kathmandu airport. [+ into]
Synonyms: fall, drop, plunge, coming down More Synonyms of descent
2. countable noun
A descent is a surface that slopes downwards, for example the side of a steep hill.
On the descents, cyclists spin past cars, freewheeling downhill at tremendous speed.
Synonyms: slope, drop, dip, incline More Synonyms of descent
3. singular noun
When you want to emphasize that a situation becomes very bad, you can talk about someone's or something's descent into that situation.
[emphasis]
Without a political settlement, the descent into chaos will be guaranteed.
...his swift descent from respected academic to homeless alcoholic. [+ from/to]
Synonyms: decline, deterioration, degradation, decadence More Synonyms of descent
4. uncountable noun [usu of adj N]
You use descent to talk about a person's family background, for example their nationality or social status.
[formal]
All the contributors were of African descent.
Synonyms: origin, extraction, ancestry, lineage More Synonyms of descent
descent in British English
(dɪˈsɛnt)
noun
1.
the act of descending
2.
a downward slope or inclination
3.
a passage, path, or way leading downwards
4.
derivation from an ancestor or ancestral group; lineage
5.
(in genealogy) a generation in a particular lineage
6.
a decline or degeneration
7.
a movement or passage in degree or state from higher to lower
8. (often foll by on)
a sudden and overwhelming arrival or attack
9. property law
(formerly) the transmission of real property to the heir on an intestacy
descent in American English
(diˈsɛnt; dɪˈsɛnt)
noun
1.
a descending; coming down or going down
2.
lineage; ancestry
3.
one generation (in a specified lineage)
4.
a downward slope
5.
a way down or downward
6.
a sudden attack, raid, or invasion (on or upon)
7.
a decline; fall
8.
a stooping (to an act)
9. Law
transference (of property) to heirs or offspring by inheritance
Word origin
ME descent < OFr descente < descendre: see descend
Examples of 'descent' in a sentence
descent
All societies have means for organizing residence and descent groups.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
His descent into chaos and criminality had begun.
The Sun (2011)
The sudden descent could have happened because the pilots failed to put on oxygen masks.
The Sun (2015)
What followed for all of them was a descent into showbiz hell.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Then begins the long descent into hell.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
And then will begin the descent into hell.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
There were reports that the brakes had failed as the coach rounded the bend on the steep descent.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
There was a great deal of screaming from the cast and the audience and a satisfying descent into chaos.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The distinction between local groups and descent groups is therefore one between common residence and a sense of common identity.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
Reaching for a dictionary is made all the more difficult by the steep and winding descent that follows shortly afterwards.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The other path for failed attempts at behavioral control through physical punishment was outright cruelty and sometimes descent into unremitting family warfare.
Nightingale, Carl Husemoller On the Edge: A History of Poor Black Children and Their American Dreams (1993)
Their cosy marriage's sudden descent into chaos is chillingly depicted.
The Sun (2011)
In this situation, women are mutually exchanged by descent groups in each generation.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
It traces descent through the father, and descent groups are formed around the relationship between father and son.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
The coach crashed through a roadside wall on a sharp bend at the bottom of a steep descent near Grenoble.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Prominent family of French descent.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Like so many of Scottish descent my family now finds itself in England.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Nobody gains from Syria's descent into chaos.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
But, of course, there is a slow and awful descent into chaos.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I got to know a lot of people of West Indian descent.
The Sun (2012)
Word lists with
descent
Property law terms
In other languages
descent
British English: descent NOUN
A descent is a movement from a higher to a lower level or position.
During the descent three people collapsed in the cold and rain.
American English: descent
Brazilian Portuguese: declive
Chinese: 下降
European Spanish: descenso
French: descente
German: Abstieg
Italian: discesa
Japanese: 降下
Korean: 하강
European Portuguese: declive
Latin American Spanish: descenso
Chinese translation of 'descent'
descent
(dɪˈsɛnt)
n
(c/u)[of mountain, hill etc]下坡 (xiàpō)
(c/u) (by aircraft) 下降 (xiàjiàng)
(u) (= origin) 血统(統) (xuètǒng)
(c) (= slope) 斜坡 (xiépō) (条(條), tiáo)
of African/European descent非洲/欧(歐)洲血统(統) (Fēizhōu/Ōuzhōu xuètǒng)
1 (noun)
Definition
the act of descending
The airplane encountered turbulence on its descent into the airport.
Synonyms
fall
The helmets are designed to withstand impacts equivalent to a fall from a bicycle.
drop
There was a sheer drop just outside my window.
plunge
a refreshing plunge into cold water
coming down
swoop
2 (noun)
Definition
a path or way leading downwards
On the descents, cyclists freewheel past cars.
Synonyms
slope
a mountain slope
drop
dip
She acknowledged me with a slight dip of the head.
incline
I came to a halt at the edge of a steep incline.
slant
The house is on a slant.
declination
declivity
3 (noun)
Definition
a decline or degeneration
his swift descent from respected academic to social pariah
Synonyms
decline
Rome's decline in the fifth century.
deterioration
the rapid deterioration in relations between the two countries
degradation
the progressive degradation of the state
decadence
a prime example of the decadence of the age
degeneration
the degeneration of our political system
debasement
instances of domination and debasement
4 (noun)
Definition
derivation from an ancestor
All the contributors were of foreign descent.
Synonyms
origin
people of Asian origin
extraction
a young Brazilian of German extraction
ancestry
They can trace their ancestry back to the seventeenth century.
lineage
They can trace their lineage back to the 18th century.
family tree
the difficulties of tracing a complex family tree
parentage
She is a Londoner of mixed English and Jamaican parentage.
heredity
genealogy
He had sat and repeated his family's genealogy to her.
derivation
The derivation of its name is obscure.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of ancestry
Definition
family descent
They can trace their ancestry back to the seventeenth century.