English
descend
Descend comes from Middle English descenden ‘to move downwards, fall, descend’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to climb, scale’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-‘to climb, scale’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēscendere
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400descendere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500descenden‘to move downwards, fall, descend’
- Englishearliest quotation 1528descend
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-‘to climb, scale’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēscendere
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400descendere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500descenden‘to move downwards, fall, descend’
- Englishearliest quotation 1528descend
Earliest quotation: 1528, J[ohn] S[herren] Brewer: “And there is another watergang, called Haile Fayers watergang,…”
The story
The verb is derived from Middle English descenden (‘to move downwards, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to go from a better to a worse condition, decline, degenerate; to be a descendant, derive from (a source); etc.’), from Anglo-Norman descendere, descendre, and Old French descendere, descendre (‘to move downwards, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to be a descendant, derive from (a source); etc.’) (modern French descendre), and from their etymon Latin dēscendere, the present active infinitive of dēscendō (‘to come or go down, fall, descend; to slope downwards; to be a descendant; etc.’), from de- (prefix meaning ‘from; down from’) + scandō (‘to ascend, climb; to clamber’) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (‘to climb, scale; to dart; to jump’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to climb, scale’
scale, scan, slander, echelon, ascension, scala, skein, ascendant, 14 more
Today it means
verb To pass from a higher to a lower part of (something, such as a flight of stairs or a slope); to go down along or upon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skend- / descend