past form / past participle
It means that someone or something moved from a higher position to a lower one, or went down from a high place.
The hikers descended from the mountain before sunset.
The helicopter has descended to the landing pad.
American English
How to pronounce descended
verbB2Common word
dihSEHNdihd
/dɪˈsɛn.dɪd̚/
3 syllables · Stress the second syllable.
Form of descend
It means that someone or something moved from a higher position to a lower one, or went down from a high place.
Practice out loudMeanings & examples
past form / past participle
It means that a situation gradually became bad, confused, or unpleasant.
The debate descended into name-calling.
The meeting had descended into chaos by noon.
past form / past participle
It means that a large group arrived at a place, often suddenly.
Hundreds of fans descended on the stadium.
Reporters have descended on the courthouse.
past form / past participle
It describes a person or group related by family to someone from the past.
The royal family was descended from a medieval ruler.
Many islanders are descended from sailors.
Good to know
For family history, descended normally appears in be descended from, not descend from by itself.
Useful expressions
to arrive suddenly in a large group
Tourists descended upon the quiet village.
to gradually become a bad or confused situation
The discussion descended into an argument.