descendido

Descendido is the past participle of the Spanish verb descender, meaning to move downward or to fall. As a participle, it appears in compound tenses (for example, ha descendido) and can also function as an adjective describing something that has been lowered or that has moved downward. In everyday language it covers physical descent (someone descending a staircase), as well as figurative decreases (prices or levels that have fallen).

Etymology and forms: Descendido derives from Latin descendere, formed with the prefix de- plus a root meaning to ascend or to climb. In Spanish it agrees with gender and number: descendido (masculine singular), descendida (feminine singular); descendidos and descendidas (plural). A closely related form is descendente, the present participle or adjective meaning descending, often used to describe slopes, processes, or trends in progress. The noun for the act of going down is descenso; descendimiento exists in more formal or technical registers.

Usage notes: Descendido can be used in general prose as a descriptive or technical term, though in many contexts descendente or descenso may be more common for expressing ongoing descent or the act itself. It should not be confused with descendiente, which denotes a descendant—someone who is descended from an ancestor. In scientific, economic, and geographic writing, descendido appears when describing quantities or states that have decreased or moved downward.

See also: descendente, descenso, descenso de temperatura, descenso de precios, descendimiento.