Sekirov Dictionary

ascendant

UK /əˈsɛnd(ə)nt/US /əˈsɛndənt/

noun 8
adjective 6
forms 3

noun8

•
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
•
(figurative) Synonym of ascendancy (“commanding influence; dominant control; superiority, supremacy”).
- One man has the ascendant over another.
•
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
An ancestor.
•
(no longer used) 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.
(no longer used) Something which leads or slopes upwards, such as a flight of stairs or an upward incline.
(no longer used) 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”).
(no longer used, rare) A person who supports a policy of ecclesiastical or national supremacy.

adjective6

•
Moving upward; ascending, rising.
- 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
•
(figurative) Controlling, dominant, surpassing.
- 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
In an eastern direction rising just above the horizon.
Rising towards the zenith.
•
Of a part of an organism: synonym of ascending (“leading or sloping upwards”).
- Artere sousclaviere. The ascendant branch of the great Arterie. — 1611
(no longer used) Synonym of ascending (“of or pertaining to one's ancestors”).

forms

ascendants · more ascendant · most ascendant

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