(n.) A passing from a higher to a lower tone.
(n.) A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.
(n.) Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction.
(n.) Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.
(n.) Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; -- often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy.
(n.) Lowest place; extreme downward place.
(n.) 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.
(n.) That which is descended; descendants; issue.
(n.) The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.
(n.) Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity.