ascendant

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*skend-“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; to scan (poetry)”
2. Latin · derived fromascendentem
3. Old French · derived fromascendant
4. Middle English · inherited fromascendent“ascending, rising; increasing in quantity; (astronomy) rising above the horizon”
5. English todayascendant

PIE word *h₂éd The adjective is derived from Late Middle English ascendent (“ascending, rising; increasing in quantity; (astronomy) rising above the horizon”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French ascendant, from Latin ascendentem, the accusative singular of ascendēns (“ascending, rising”), the present participle of ascendō, adscendō (“to climb up, go up, move upwards; to rise; to spring up”), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘(up) to’) + scandō (“to ascend, climb, mount; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; to scan (poetry)”)). The English word is analysable as ascend (verb) + -ant (suffix forming adjectives from verbs with the sense of ‘doing [the verbal actions]’). The noun is probably derived from the adjective, though it is attested earlier than the latter.

Words from the same roots