descended

[ dih-sen-did ]

adjective

1. having a specified ancestry or ethnic origin:

   She was the only daughter of a wealthy baron and his royally descended wife.

2. having gone from a higher place or position to a lower one:

   The cooled and descended air then travels along the earth’s surface toward the equator to replace air rising from the equatorial zone.

   He was hailed as some descended godhead on earth—an avatar.

3. inherited or transmitted, as through succeeding generations of a family:

   Early mammals generally possessed claws, and all existing cat species carry that descended trait.

4. derived from something in the remote past, especially through continuous transmission:

   Traditional religions tend to focus on descended practice and ritual rather than on doctrine taught by a religious institution.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of descend.

Other Words From

• un·de·scend·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of descended¹

First recorded in 1560–70; descend ( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; descend ( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

The atmosphere in the city following the racist killings was "like a cloud" had descended, she added.

From BBC

A fireworks display descended into chaos when rockets flew into the crowd and hit spectators.

From BBC

Ramping up to a nail-biting election, a slew of people with steadfast political beliefs and questionable moral values descended on New York City from far and wide.

From Salon

Small communities descended from enslaved island populations in the South, known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia, are scattered along the coast from North Carolina to Florida.

From BBC

Once again, the defense descended into late chaos.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cascade
• collapse
• crash
• dip
• disembark
• dive
• go down
• penetrate
• plummet
• plunge
• settle
• sink
• slide
• slip
• stumble
• subside
• swoop
• trickle
• tumble