descend

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• intransitive verb To move from a higher to a lower place; come or go down.
• intransitive verb To slope, extend, or incline downward.
• intransitive verb To be related by genetic descent from an individual or individuals in a previous generation.
• intransitive verb To come down from a source; derive.
• intransitive verb To pass by inheritance.
• intransitive verb To lower oneself; stoop.
• intransitive verb To proceed or progress downward, as in rank, pitch, or scale.
• intransitive verb To arrive or attack in a sudden or overwhelming manner.
• intransitive verb To move from a higher to lower part of; go down.
• intransitive verb To extend or proceed downward along.
• idiom (be descended from) To be related to (an ancestor) by genetic descent from an individual or individuals in a previous generation.

from The Century Dictionary.

• In physical, to pass from higher to lower readings or values upon any scale: said specifically of the musical scale and of the thermometric scale.
• To move or pass from a higher to a lower place; move, come, or go downward; fall; sink: as, he descended from the tower; the sun is descending.
• To come or go down in a hostile manner; invade, as an enemy; fall violently: with on.
• To proceed from a source or original; be derived lineally or by transmission; come or pass downward, as offspring in the line of generation, or as property from owner to heir.
• To pass, as from general to particular statements: as, having explained the general subject, we will descend to particulars.
• To come down from a certain moral or social standard; lower or abase one's self morally or socially: as, to descend to acts of meanness; to descend to an inferior position; hence, to condescend; stoop.
• In astronomy, to move to the southward, or toward the south, as a star.
• To move or pass downward upon or along; come or go down upon; pass from the top to the bottom of: as, to descend a hill; to descend an inclined plane.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of
• intransitive verb To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward; -- the opposite of ascend.
• intransitive verb Poetic To enter mentally; to retire.
• intransitive verb To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon.
• intransitive verb To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self.
• intransitive verb To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.
• intransitive verb To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance
• intransitive verb (Anat.) To move toward the south, or to the southward.
• intransitive verb (Mus.) To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb intransitive To pass from a higher to a lower place; to move downwards; to come or go down in any way, as by falling, flowing, walking, etc.; to plunge; to fall; to incline downward
• verb intransitive To make an attack, or incursion, as if from a vantage ground; to come suddenly and with violence; -- with on or upon.
• verb intransitive To come down to a lower, less fortunate, humbler, less virtuous, or worse, state or station; to lower or abase one's self; as, he descended from his high estate.
• verb intransitive To pass from the more general or important to the particular or less important matters to be considered.
• verb intransitive To come down, as from a source, original, or stock; to be derived; to proceed by generation or by transmission; to fall or pass by inheritance; as, the beggar may descend from a prince; a crown descends to the heir.
• verb intransitive, anatomy To move toward the south, or to the southward.
• verb intransitive, music To fall in pitch; to pass from a higher to a lower tone.
• verb transitive To go down upon or along; to pass from a higher to a lower part of; as, they descended the river in boats; to descend a ladder.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example
• verb come as if by falling
• verb move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
• verb do something that one considers to be below one's dignity