discendente

Discendente is an Italian term that can function as both a noun and an adjective. As a noun, it denotes a person who is descended from someone, i.e., a descendant within a family line. As an adjective, it describes something related to descent or derived from a source, and it is often used in genealogical or historical contexts to refer to lineage. The word comes from Latin descendere, meaning to descend, and entered Italian through long-standing linguistic development. In Italian, discendente is related to ascendente, the term for ascending or upward, and the two form a common pair in discussions of lineage or orientation.

In genealogical usage, discendente identifies individuals who trace their ancestry to a particular ancestor or family branch. It appears on family trees and in legal documents or historical narratives that discuss descent, inheritance, or lineage. The plural discendenti is used for multiple individuals in a generation or branch.

In astronomy and celestial mechanics, the term appears in the compound nodo discendente, the descending node of an orbit—the point where the path crosses the reference plane from north to south. The opposite node is called nodo ascendente. The term is widely used in the description of orbital elements for planets, moons, and artificial satellites, as well as in ephemerides and mission planning.