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Definition of descendant
1 : moving or directed downward listed in descendant order
2 : proceeding from an ancestor or source
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Examples of descendant in a Sentence
the descendant branches of a weeping willow
Recent Examples of descendant from the Web
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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.
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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.
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
Other Biology Terms
descendant
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
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
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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.
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The paper was owned and operated by the Wheeler family, descendants of Crown Point founder Solon Robinson.
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Few Israelis can contemplate dividing Jerusalem, and almost none would entertain Palestinian demands for allowing refugees and their descendants, who now number in the millions, the right to live in Israel.
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Yet the descendants of these aloof, solitary and territorial creatures today inhabit every continent except Antarctica.
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These weren’t the descendants of a flogged apprentice.
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The descendants of Sheikh Mohammed bin Abd al-Wahhab, the 18th century imam whose ascetic brand of Islam dominates Saudi Arabia, have demanded that Qatar remove his name from its biggest mosque, which opened in 2011.
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When the mansion burned in 1935, Barker’s descendants had columns added to this building and lived there with his family.
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Now their modern descendants, the cobweb spiders, dangle sticky threads below, wait until insects walk by and get snagged, and reel their unlucky victims in.
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.
Origin and Etymology of descendant
French & Latin; French descendant, from Late Latin descendent-, descendens, from Latin
Other Genetics Terms
DESCENDANT Defined for English Language Learners
descendant
Definition of descendant for English Language Learners
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: someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past
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: a plant or animal that is related to a particular plant or animal that lived long ago
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: something that developed from another thing that was made or existed earlier
DESCENDANT Defined for Kids
descendant
playDefinition 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
descendent
\di-ˈsen-dənt\Legal Definition of descendant
: a blood relative of a later generation
Learn More about descendant
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See words that rhyme with descendant Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for descendant Spanish Central: Translation of descendant Nglish: Translation of descendant for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of descendant for Arabic speakers
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