descendant

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adjective de·scen·dant \ di-ˈsen-dənt \

variants: or less commonly descendent

Definition of descendant

1 :moving or directed downward

listed in descendant order

2 :proceeding from an ancestor or source

See descendant defined for kids

Examples of descendant in a Sentence

the descendant branches of a weeping willow

Recent Examples of descendant from the Web

Protesters also poured into the streets of several cities in Chocó, the blackest department (comparable to a U.S. state), with an 80 percent African-descendant population.

— lori s. robinson, The Root, "Fighting for Black Lives in Colombia: At War’s End, the Search for a Seat at the Table," 3 July 2017
The group was made up of friends of Ariana Rockefeller, the descendant grand-niece of the property's founder.

— avril graham, Harper's BAZAAR, "Just Back From...A Long Weekend in Puerto Rico," 8 May 2017
A descendant sapling from a tree planted by children who were killed during the Holocaust was planted at Niles West High School Thursday, April 27, in honor of Arbor Day.

— mike isaacs, chicagotribune.com, "Arbor Day: Sapling from tree grown during Holocaust planted at Niles West," 28 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'descendant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Descendant is the opposite of ancestor. Your grandparents' descendants are those who are descended from them—your parents, your brothers and sisters, and any children that any of you may have. It's been claimed that every person on earth is a descendant of Muhammad, and of every historical person before him—Julius Caesar, the Buddha, etc.—who started a line of descent. (Some of us still find this hard to believe.) And not all descendants are human; every modern thesaurus, for example, could be called the descendant of the one devised by Peter Mark Roget in 1852.

Origin and Etymology of descendant

Middle English dessendaunte, from Anglo-French descendant, from Latin descendent-, descendens, present participle of descendere — see descend

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

descendant Synonyms

Synonyms

bowed, bowing, declined, declining, nodding (also descendent), descending, drooping, droopy, hanging, hung, inclining, pendulous, sagging, stooping, weeping

Antonyms

unbending, upright

Related Words

floppy, limp; dangling, falling, pendent (or pendant), suspended; dipping, sinking, slumping

Near Antonyms

erect, inflexible, rigid, stiff; elevated, raised, upraised

Other Biology Terms

autochthonous, fecund, homunculus, phylogeny, substrate

descendant

noun

variants: or less commonly descendent

Definition of descendant

1 :one originating or coming from an ancestral stock or source :one descended from another

descendants of King David

a descendant of an ancient grass

2 :one deriving directly from a precursor or prototype

Italian and other descendants of Latin

See descendant defined for English-language learners

Examples of descendant in a Sentence

One of the famous inventor's descendants is also an inventor.
Many people in this area are descendants of German immigrants.
Recent evidence supports the theory that birds are the modern descendants of dinosaurs.
The Italian language is one of Latin's descendants.

Recent Examples of descendant from the Web

The paper was owned and operated by the Wheeler family, descendants of Crown Point founder Solon Robinson.

— kitty conley, Post-Tribune, "Crown Point Star Newspaper Almanac," 28 Aug. 2017
Descendants of the soldiers gathered around the monument to pose for photographs after today's dedication.

— mike cason, AL.com, "Montgomery dedicates monument to Alabama's WWI soldiers," 28 Aug. 2017
With the assistance of the ACLU, the descendants of Rockwell (David Duke was a disciple) scored a moral victory in Charlottesville that can be magnified a million times in the sewers of the Internet.

— logan jenkins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Virginia riot elicits violent response: Was it morally justified?," 21 Aug. 2017
Descendants now see better value in packaging and selling off those rights for an upfront payment or equity in the new minerals companies, Ravnaas said.

— alex nussbaum, Bloomberg.com, "How to Invest in Oil Without Taking a Risk," 13 July 2017
Amoss resides in Fallston, and other descendants of William Amos live all over the country.

— david anderson, The Aegis, "Maryland American breaks ground on Bel Air water impoundment," 13 July 2017
Sam Orvis, a distant descendant to the original Orvis family, watched.

— kyle stock, Bloomberg.com, "Will the Orvis H3 Be the One Fly Rod to Rule Them All?," 11 July 2017
A Lugo descendant owned and managed the trailer park and lived in the ancestral home until the early 1980s.

— jennifer rice epstein, Los Angeles Magazine, "Gage Mansion Is Moldering Away Right in Front of Its Owners’ Eyes," 10 July 2017
Their other findings parallel Skoglund’s discoveries: Nine percent to 22% of the DNA of these farmers’ modern descendants—including the southern Khoe-San—comes from East Africans and Eurasian herders.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "First big efforts to sequence ancient African DNA reveal how early humans swept across the continent," 6 July 2017

Origin and Etymology of descendant

French & Latin; French descendant, from Late Latin descendent-, descendens, from Latin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1569

See Words from the same year

Other Genetics Terms

chimera, hermaphrodite, plasticity

DESCENDANT Defined for English Language Learners

descendant

noun

Definition of descendant for English Language Learners

: someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past
: a plant or animal that is related to a particular plant or animal that lived long ago
: something that developed from another thing that was made or existed earlier

DESCENDANT Defined for Kids

descendant

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noun de·scen·dant \ di-ˈsen-dənt \

Definition of descendant for Students

1 :someone related to a person or group of people who lived at an earlier time

2 :a thing that comes from something that existed at an earlier time

Law Dictionary

descendant

noun de·scen·dant

variants: also descendent \di-ˈsen-dənt\

legal Definition of descendant

:a blood relative of a later generation

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descendant Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

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Other Biology Terms

descendant

Definition of descendant

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Recent Examples of descendant from the Web

Origin and Etymology of descendant

Other Genetics Terms

DESCENDANT Defined for English Language Learners

descendant

Definition of descendant for English Language Learners

DESCENDANT Defined for Kids

descendant

Definition of descendant for Students

Law Dictionary

descendant

legal Definition of descendant

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