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(), n.[F. descente, fr. descendre; like vente, from vendre. See Descend.] 1. The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower. 2. Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy. The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts. Jortin. 3. Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc. 2. Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction. Dryden. 5. (Law) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity. Abbott. 6. Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping スポンサード リンク
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