descend

Where does the word "descend" come from? It comes from Latin descendere, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Descend’s story begins in Latin: descendere meant “to climb down.” To climb down, from de- (down) and scandere (to climb). It reached English by 1300s as descend. Settled as the English word for moving downward. Today, descend means to move downward, or to be derived from an ancestor.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient descendere "to climb down", to climb down, from de- (down) and scandere (to climb).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s descend "to move downward", settled as the English word for moving downward.