descendant

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

variants: or less commonly descendent

|Updated on: 27 Jul 2018

Examples: descendant in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

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

Today, local representatives from descendant communities visit the site twice a year and help guide the research.

— jon hurdle, New York Times, "Ruined ‘Apartments’ May Hold Clues to Native American History," 4 Sep. 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
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

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

descendant Synonyms

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

About a third of free-living tamarins are descendants of relatives raised under the care of humans; however, due to the fragile state of the tamarins’ South American habitats, no tamarins are currently being released beyond zoo walls.

— katherine j. wu, Smithsonian, "The National Zoo’s Golden Lion Tamarins Delight Curators with the Delivery of Twins," 3 July 2018
Today, millions of American Muslims are descendants of those brought here in bondage centuries ago.

— dawud walid, The Root, "Muslim Travel Ban? There Has Never Been an America Without Islam or Muslims," 27 June 2018
The Moghuls were descendants of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane [a conquerer also known as also known as Timur and Amir Timur].

— randy dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor, "Ruby Lal, author of 'Empress,' discusses the amazing life and reign of Nur Jahan," 27 June 2018
So many of us in this country are descendants of immigrants.

— sen. catherine cortez masto, Marie Claire, "Separating Families at the Border Is Just One Way Trump is Trying to Tear Apart Immigrant Families," 25 June 2018
Many of us are the descendants of refugees and others who fled violence and repression and found a safe refuge in this country.

— susan f. martin, Fortune, "Trump’s Asylum Policy Is Eerily Similar to America’s During the Holocaust," 19 June 2018
Two-thirds of Gaza's 2 million residents are descendants of refugees.

— Fox News, "UN chief warns Gaza violence is close 'to the brink of war'," 18 June 2018
Ann Wilson and her two siblings are the descendants of abolitionists George Corson and Martha Maulsby Corson, who provided runaway slaves with food and a safe place to hide on their property.

— katie park, Philly.com, "Once an Underground Railroad stop, Montgomery County property may soon be filled with townhouses," 5 June 2018
Some two-thirds of Gaza's 2 million people are descendants of Palestinians who either fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948.

— Bloomberg.com, "Israeli Minister: Gaza Casualties Don't Tell the Story," 4 June 2018

Origin and Etymology of descendant

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1569

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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