From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Descent \De*scent"\, n. [F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente,
from vendre. See Descend.]
1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of
place from higher to lower.
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2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion
from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a
descent upon the enemy.
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The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to
God, when they feared that the French and English
fleets would make a descent upon their coasts.
--Jortin.
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3. Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station,
virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from
a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less
important, from the better to the worse, etc.
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2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation;
lineage; birth; extraction. --Dryden.
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5. (Law) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually,
but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to
inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity. --Abbott.
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6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or
sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.
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7. That which is descended; descendants; issue.
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If care of our descent perplex us most,
Which must be born to certain woe. --Milton.
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8. A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a
degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.
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No man living is a thousand descents removed from
Adam himself. --Hooker.
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9. Lowest place; extreme downward place. [R.]
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And from the extremest upward of thy head,
To the descent and dust below thy foot. --Shak.
10. (Mus.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.
Syn: Declivity; slope; degradation; extraction; lineage;
assault; invasion; attack.
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