English
ascendant
Ascendant comes from Middle English ascendent ‘ascending, rising’, from Latin adscendō ‘to climb up, go up, move upwards’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skend-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-‘to climb, scale’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscandō‘to ascend, climb, mount’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEadscendō‘to climb up, go up, move upwards’next step skipped: Latin ascendō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEascendēns‘ascending, rising’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEascendentemaccusative singular of ascendēns
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ascendant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ascendent‘ascending, rising’
- Englishearliest quotation 1587ascendant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-‘to climb, scale’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscandō‘to ascend, climb, mount’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEadscendō‘to climb up, go up, move upwards’next step skipped: Latin ascendō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEascendēns‘ascending, rising’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEascendentemaccusative singular of ascendēns
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ascendant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ascendent‘ascending, rising’
- Englishearliest quotation 1587ascendant
Earliest quotation: 1587, Philip of Mornay [i.e., A Solution of the Obiections of the Heathen ageinst Iesus, t: “[T]hey ſay that Jeſus in his natiuitie, had for…”
Formed from ascend + -ant
The story
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English ascendent (‘ascending, rising; increasing in quantity; (astronomy) rising above the horizon’) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French ascendant, from Latin ascendentem, the accusative singular of ascendēns (‘ascending, rising’), the present participle of ascendō, adscendō (‘to climb up, go up, move upwards; to rise; to spring up’), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘(up) to’) + scandō (‘to ascend, climb, mount; to clamber’) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (‘to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; to scan (poetry)’)). The English word is analysable as ascend (verb) + -ant (suffix forming adjectives from verbs with the sense of ‘doing [the verbal actions]’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to climb, scale’
slander, echelon, escalator, descend, scala, scandalous, skein, 11 more
through Latin scandō ‘to ascend, climb, mount’
Today it means
adj Moving upward; ascending, rising.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skend- / ascendant