ascendant
Syllables: ascend·ant/əˈsɛnd(ə)nt//əˈsɛndənt/
ascendant adjective: moving upward; ascending, rising.
Adjective
ascendant (comparative more ascendant, superlative most ascendant)
- Moving upward; ascending, rising.
- [A]ll true and frutefull Natvrall Philosophie, hath A double Scale or Ladder, Aſcendent and Deſcendent, aſcending from experiments to the Inuention of cauſes; and deſcending from cauſes, to the Inuention of nevve experiments; Therefore I iudge it moſt requiſite, that theſe tvvo parts be ſeuerally...1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for...
- […] Chriſt, that he might not make either a ſuſpected or precarious Addreſs to Men's Underſtandings, out-does Moſes, before he diſplaces him; ſhevvs an aſcendant Spirit above him, raiſes the Dead, and cures more Plagues than he brought upon Egypt, […]1692, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached upon John vii. 17.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet, […], →OCLC, pages...
- Controlling, dominant, surpassing.
- In some cases the conquering state contented itself with imposing a tribute on the vanquished: who, being, in consideration of that burthen, freed from the expense and trouble of their own military and naval protection, might enjoy under it a considerable share of economical prosperity, while the...1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, book I (Production), page 19
- Without some power of persuading or confuting—of defending himself against accusation, or in case of need, accusing others—no man could possibly hold an ascendent position.1850, George Grote, “The Drama—Rhetoric and Dialectics—The Sophists”, in History of Greece, volume VIII, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, part II (Continuation of Historical Greece), page 463
- Synonyms:
- superior
- In an eastern direction rising just above the horizon.
- This Phœbus promis'd, I forget the Year, / VVhen thoſe blue eyes firſt open'd on the Sphere; / Aſcendant Phœbus vvatch'd that hour vvith care, / Averted half your Parents ſimple Pray'r, / And gave you Beauty, but deny'd the Pelf / That buys your Sex a Tyrant o'er itſelf: […]1735, [Alexander] Pope, Of the Characters of Women: An Epistle to a Lady [Martha Blount] [Moral Essays], London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 16
- Rising towards the zenith.
- [W]e muſt diſcover freezing ſtars that may reſolve the latter colds of vvinter, vvhich vvho ever deſires to invent, let him ſtudie the ſtarres of Andromeda, or the nearer conſtellation of Pegaſus, vvhich are about that time aſcendant.1646, Thomas Browne, “Of the Canicular or Dogdayes”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 4th book, page 227
- Of a part of an organism: synonym of ascending (“leading or sloping upwards”).
- Artere ſouſclaviere. The aſcendant branch of the great Arterie.1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Sousclavier”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature Eeee iij, recto
- Synonym of ascending (“of or pertaining to one's ancestors”).
- Synonyms:
- ascending
Noun
ascendant (plural ascendants)
- The degree of the zodiac or point of the ecliptic which rises in an eastern direction above the horizon at a particular moment (especially the moment of a person's birth), which is supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's fortune and life; a horoscope.
- [T]hey ſay that Jeſus in his natiuitie, had for his aſcendent, the ſigne of Virgo in her firſt face, as they terme it, […]1587, Philip of Mornay [i.e., Philippe de Mornay], “A Solution of the Obiections of the Heathen ageinst Iesus, the Sonne of God”, in Philip Sidney, Arthur Golding, transl., A Woorke Concerning the...
- At my Nativity, my aſcendent vvas the earthly ſigne of Scorpius, I vvas borne in the Planetary houre of Saturne, and I think I have a piece of that Leaden Planet in me.1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The Second Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, section 11, page 164
- Synonyms:
- significator of life
- Chiefly in in the ascendant: an act of ascending or rising.
- Towards the end of the session of 1836, the hopes of the Conservative party were again in the ascendant.1844, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter V, in Coningsby; or, The New Generation. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 47
- [T]hose poets, […] by enriching the common language and by circulating from to town to town either in person or in their compositions, contributed to fan the flame of Pan-Hellenic patriotism at a time when there were few circumstances to co-operate with them, and when the causes tending to...1847, George Grote, “Lyric Poetry—The Seven Wise Men”, in History of Greece, volume IV, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, part II (Continuation of Historical Greece), page 136
- Synonym of ascendancy (“commanding influence; dominant control; superiority, supremacy”).
- One man has the ascendant over another.
- To my aſcendant haſting then to clime, / There are the firſt predomining the time.1607, Michael Drayton, “The Legend of Great Cromwell”, in Poems: […], London: […] Willi[am] Stansby for Iohn Smethwicke, published 1630, →OCLC, page 446
- Synonyms:
- ascendancy
- An ancestor.
- The Eſtate and Inheritance of a Perſon dying Inteſtate is, by Right of Devolution, according to the Civil-Lavv, given to ſuch as are ally'd to him ex Latere, commonly ſtiled Collaterals, if there be no Aſcendants or Deſcendants ſurviving at the time of his Death.1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Administration, and the Possession of Intestate Goods”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the...
- Antonyms:
- descendant
- A person who ascends or goes up; specifically (usually followed by to), a person who ascends to a throne or assumes some other position of power.
- Given his father’s ghastly demise, one would not expect such glee from the ascendant to his throne.
- [P]ryde can endure no Superiours, no equals, no aſcendants, no ſprigs, no grafts, no likely beginnings.1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 15, verso
- Something which is higher than the things around it; a peak, a summit; specifically (typography), synonym of ascender (“the portion of a lowercase letter that extends above the midline”).
- Something which leads or slopes upwards, such as a flight of stairs or an upward incline.
- [T]here can be no reaſon yeilded neither in nature, nor in relation, vvherefore, if it have lavvfully mounted thus high, it ſhould not be a Lordly aſcendent in the horoſcope of the Church, from Primate to Patriarch, and ſo to Pope.1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “That Prelaty was Not Set Up for Prevention of Schisme, as is Pretended, or if It were, that It Performes Not what It was First Set Up for, but quite the...
- A person who supports a policy of ecclesiastical or national supremacy.
- Indeed, my dear Sir, there is not a single particular in the Francis-street declamations, which has not, to your and to my certain knowledge, been taught by the jealous ascendants, sometimes by doctrine, sometimes by example, always by provocation.1795 May 26 (date written), Edmund Burke, “A Second Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe”, in [Walker King], editor, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, new edition, volume IX, London: […]...
ascendant meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Persian
ascendant in Tamil
- எழுபுள்ளி
ascendant in Malayalam
- on the rise, rising (in power), on the way up
- ആരോഹണം ചെയ്യുന്ന, ഉദിച്ചുയരുന്ന, തരുണ, അധികാരത്തിലേറുന്ന, ഉയർന്നുവരുന്ന, ഉദ്ഗമിക്കുന്ന
ascendant in Persian
- moving upward — see also ascending, rising
- براینده barâyande, برآینده bar-âyande, طالع tâle'
- controlling, dominant, surpassing — see also controlling, dominant, surpassing
- برآینده bar-âyande
Examples of ascendant in a sentence
- The body [of the dragon] mounts ascendant; / The head before, the tail behind, / The wings, like sails that want a wind, / On either side are pendant.1830 July, Robert Southey, “The Young Dragon. Part IV.”, in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey. […], volume VI, London: […] [Andrew...
- At the same time, he [David Gelernter] sees our current society, where computers are ascendant, as lacking authority.1995 May 21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times Magazine (section 6), New York, N.Y.: The New York...
- Now, with Syria's Kurds ascendant, hopes that the country as it is now may again be controlled from Damascus are also falling.2015 August 1, Martin Chulov, “Ascendant Kurds emerge from Syrian civil war as major power player”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News...
- There he was a mere cypher: here he was lord of the ascendant; the choice spirit, the dominant genius.1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Club of Queer Fellows”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 2 (Buckthorne and His...
Synonyms of ascendant
- superior
- ascending
- significator of life
- ascendancy
Antonyms
Forms of ascendant
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more ascendant |
| superlative | most ascendant |
| alternative form | ascendent |
| Noun | |
| plural | ascendants |
Origin of ascendant
PIE word *h₂éd The adjective is derived from Late Middle English ascendent (“ascending, rising; increasing in quantity; (astronomy) rising above the horizon”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French ascendant, from Latin ascendentem, the accusative singular of ascendēns (“ascending, rising”), the present participle of ascendō, adscendō (“to climb up, go up, move upwards; to rise; to spring up”), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘(up) to’) + scandō (“to ascend, climb, mount; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; to scan (poetry)”)). The English word is analysable as ascend (verb) + -ant (suffix forming adjectives from verbs with the sense of ‘doing [the verbal actions]’). The noun is probably derived from the adjective, though it is attested earlier than the latter.
Words formed from ascendant
- ascendance
- ascendancy
- ascendency
- ascendantly
- ascendental
- reascendant
- in the ascendant
- lord of the ascendant
Phrases with ascendant
Words that rhyme with ascendant
Questions about ascendant
- What does ascendant mean?
- Ascendant means moving upward; ascending, rising.
- What is ascendant in Tamil?
- Ascendant in Tamil is எழுபுள்ளி. See Ascendant meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use ascendant in a sentence?
- The body [of the dragon] mounts ascendant; / The head before, the tail behind, / The wings, like sails that want a wind, / On either side are pendant.
- What part of speech is ascendant?
- Ascendant can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce ascendant?
- Ascendant is pronounced /əˈsɛnd(ə)nt/ (UK).
Words near ascendant in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ascendant (page history and authors); ascendant (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ascendant (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ascendant.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-NaomiAmethyst-ascendent.wav.
Cite this entry: “ascendant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ascendant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.