descendere

Descendere is a Latin verb meaning to descend, to move downward from a higher to a lower position. The form is built with the prefix de- meaning “down” together with a root associated with climbing or rising. In classical Latin it covers both literal movement downward and figurative senses such as decline or descent in status or range. The infinitive is descendere, and the verb appears across Latin prose and poetry in a variety of contexts.

Grammatically, it is a third-conjugation verb. The present active indicative is descendō (I descend), with relevant forms in the usual Latin pattern for -ere verbs. Its infinitive, descendere, is used for non-finite purposes, with perfect and other tenses formed through standard -ī and -ēre endings, such as dēscendī (I descended). The participial and nominal derivatives include the sense of “descending” and the noun descent, found in Latin as dēscēnsus or dēscēsus in various constructions.

Usage and meaning extend from physical descent—descending a hill, a person leaving a tree, a river flowing downward—to figurative senses such as descent from ancestors, decline in fortune, or a movement from one state to a lower one. A classical example is Puer ex arbore descendit. In literary Latin, the verb can describe gradual movement or the culmination of a transition, and it appears in both narrative and descriptive passages.

Descendere has cognates in the Romance languages, including Spanish descender, French descendre, and Portuguese descer, all generally meaning to go down. In English, the noun descent derives from the same Latin root.