descendant
Americannoun
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a person or animal that is descended from a specific ancestor; an offspring.
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something deriving in appearance, function, or general character from an earlier form.
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an adherent who follows closely the teachings, methods, practices, etc., of an earlier master, as in art, music, philosophy, etc.; disciple.
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Astrology.
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the point opposite the ascendant.
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the point of the ecliptic or the sign and degree of the zodiac setting below the western horizon at the time of a birth or of an event.
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the cusp of the seventh house.
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adjective
noun
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a person, animal, or plant when described as descended from an individual, race, species, etc
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something that derives or is descended from an earlier form
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of descendant
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English descendaunt (adjective), from Old French descendant “going down,” present participle of descendre “to go down”; equivalent to descend + -ant
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Forgotten Children Initiative has already located the descendants of six of the buried children.
From Barron's
One skeptic suggested that authors’ descendants be allowed to sue mediums for signing their relative’s famous names to such dreadful new writing.
From Literature
Mr. Boyes wonders if any current descendants of Henry—any similarly gargantuan beasts—are still roaming the planet, then sets out to find them, if they exist.
Very few dinosaurs show evidence of this feature, although birds, which are living descendants of dinosaurs, have them, as do mammals.
From Science Daily
He has recently constructed "a memorial for the descendants of Africans, the diaspora... whom we have told for a long time that history began with slavery, with colonisation".
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
