Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of going down or downward; descent, either literal or figurative.
- noun A falling or precipitation; fall; declension.
- noun In old chemistry, the deposition or precipitation of the essential juice dissolved from the distilled matter. See
distillation by descent , under descent. - noun In old astronomy, negative ascension, the angular amount by which the projection of a star from the pole upon the equinoctial is below some horizon.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of going downward; descent; falling or sinking; declension; degradation.
- noun (Astron.) the degree or arc of the equator which descends, with a celestial object, below the horizon of an oblique sphere.
- noun [Obs.] the degree or arc of the equator which descends below the horizon of a right sphere at the same time with the object.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Any political descension among Cuban Americans in this country can only be charaterized as rightious indignation.
Don't Fish With Commies Tim Romano 2008
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I have understood "seeing the Kingdom of God coming with power" to mean "witnessing the inauguration of the Kingdom through the ascension of Jesus and the subsequent descension of the Holy Spirit".
Is It Better To View Jesus' Prediction as Trite or Mistaken? James F. McGrath 2009
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Through the help of Dainichi's compassionate con-descension or kaji (more on this in a later section), the practitioner is enabled to inter-resonate with the sermon of the cosmos.
Laughter 2009
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It was pretty much a given that a guy who rose to critical acclaim playing a gay cowboy would draw the hyperbolic wrath of America's most vocal homophobes, but it's nevertheless shocking the speed with which Phelps and company have gingerly begun proclaiming Ledger's demise and, of course, descension into hell.
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I view the early days of the Roman empire – their descension into corruption was their undoing.
Think Progress » As violence spreads in the Middle East, 2006
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Add to it the fact that he was not of the "true" Rai descension, plus the relationship with his half-brother Torque - it was a lot of good stuff for a character.
Valiant Comic Book Alphabet of Cool – O | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources 2008
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Nine times his eardrums popped and when the descension stopped, a sign that said abandon hope in the land of the dead, unless your height exceeds that of the clown's head.
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Was it to take the advantage of a word because having mentioned his ascension, will he mention also descension?
The Sermons of John Owen 1616-1683 1968
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The inclination of the cylinder, which is variable, promotes the gradual descension of the ore from the higher to the lower end.
Getting Gold: a practical treatise for prospectors, miners and students
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And so, as the descension took place, so must the ascension, and man is climbing back on the ladder of evolvement rung by rung.
Dorothy's Mystical Adventures in Oz Robert J. Evans
ruzuzu commented on the word descension
Ooh! The Century definition has "old chemistry" in it.
April 18, 2011