Where does “descendant” come from?
Descendant comes from Middle English dessendaunte, from Latin descendens, the present participle of descendo, formed from the prefix de and the verb scendo, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European de.
descendant (English): descending from a biological ancestor; proceeding...
Definitions
- descending from a biological ancestor; proceeding...
Ancestry of “descendant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dessendaunte | — |
| 2 | Latin | dēscendēns | descending |
| 3 | Latin | dēscendō | to climb down, to go or come down, to descend |
| 4 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 5 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 6 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 7 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |