English → Latin
“descend” in Latin
dēscendōto climb down, to go or come down, to descend; to march down; to pierce, to penetratedēgrediorto go down, march down, descendlāborto slip, slide, glide; (of fluids) to flow gently; to fall, sink down; to slip, stumbledēlāborto fall, sink or slip down; to glide or fly down; to sink or descenddēfluōto flow or run down; to move, float or swim downwards or downstream softly or gradually; flow or stream down; glide downarxstronghold, castle, citadel, fortress, acropolis; height, summit, pinnacle, top, peak (since castles were often built oncampusOpen flat level ground: a plain, a natural field; Any flat or level surface; a specific plain or field north of Rome’s w
The English word descend itself goes back to Latin scandō, through dēscendere.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
descend
To come down, descendere (from higher ground, ex superioribus locis; from a mountain, citadel, etc., de monte, arce, etc.: to the plain, in planitiem, campum, aequum locum, or aequum only): degredi (to go down): se demittere to let one’s self down (e.g., in convallem): labi or delabi, from, ex, etc. (also delabi a, de..): defluere (insensibly and slowly): to descend into battle (1 Sam., 26), descendere in aciem (Liv.): to descend or fall to the ground, desidere; subsidere.
ImPROP., To descend to our own times (of customs, traditions, etc), haec in tempora, or usque ad nostra tempora durare; ad nostram memoriam manere (of written or other monuments); tradi ab antiquis usque ad nostram aetatem (of a custom, manners, etc.): to descend gradually from remote antiquity to our own days, a summa memoria gradatim descendere ad hanc aetatem.
To come down to what is low or mean, descendere ad aliquid: delabi ad aliquid, in aliquid (e.g., in hoc vitium scurrile, Cic.; ad impatientiam, Tac.): demittere se in or ad aliquid (e.g., ad servilem patientiam; in adulationem, both Tac.): to descend to the level of brutes, omnem humanitatem exuere: to descend gradually from worse to worse, declinare in pejus: to descend to a state of slavery, ad servitium (ad servitia) cadere.
To descend or be descended = derive one’s origin from anybody, ortum, oriundum esse (in prose, in declaring the person from whom anybody descends, the preposition a, or ab, must be used; but in declaring the rank out of which anybody descends, the preposition a, or ab, must be omitted): originem trahere ab aliquo; originem ducere a or ex aliquo (to descend from or derive his origin from, etc.).
To descend from a ship, = disembark, e navi exire; in terram exire; also exire only; (e) navi egredi; also egredi only; escendere; exscensionem facere.
To descend or make a descent upon, irruptionem or incursionem facere in, etc.; upon a country, terram invadere; in terram irruptionem facere; with forces, terram invadere cum copiis; copias in fines hostium introducere; in hostes irrumpere, irruere, impressionem facere.
Of the descent of property, etc., pervenire ad aliquem (e.g., hereditas ad filiam pervenit, Cic.): venire alicui (e.g., major hereditas unicuique nostrum venit, etc., Cic., Caecin., 26, 74).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for descend?
- The usual Latin words for “descend” are dēscendō, dēgredior, lābor; also dēlābor, dēfluō, arx. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.