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Ascendant - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Ascendant : adj
1: tending or directed upward; "rooted and ascendant strength
like that of foliage"- John Ruskin [syn: ascendent,
ascensive]
2: most powerful or important or influential; "the economically
ascendant class"; "D-day is considered the dominating
event of the war in Europe" [syn: ascendent, dominating]
(noun)
1: position or state of being dominant or in control; "that
idea was in the ascendant" [syn: ascendent]
2: someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote
than a grandparent) [syn: ancestor, ascendent, antecedent,
root] [ant: descendant]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Ascendant : \As*cend"ant\, Ascendent \As*cend"ent\, a.
1. Rising toward the zenith; above the horizon.
The constellation . . . about that time ascendant.
--Browne.
2. Rising; ascending. --Ruskin.
3. Superior; surpassing; ruling.
An ascendant spirit over him. --South.
The ascendant community obtained a surplus of
wealth. --J. S. Mill.
Without some power of persuading or confuting, of
defending himself against accusations, . . . no man
could possibly hold an ascendent position. --Grote.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Ascendant : \As*cend"ant\, n. [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr.
of ascendere.]
1. Ascent; height; elevation. [R.]
Sciences that were then in their highest ascendant.
--Temple.
2. (Astrol.) The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic
which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's
birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a
person's life and fortune.
Note: Hence the phrases
To be in the ascendant, to have commanding power or
influence, and
Lord of the ascendant, one who has possession of such power
or influence; as, to rule, for a while, lord of the
ascendant. --Burke.
3. Superiority, or commanding influence; ascendency; as, one
man has the ascendant over another.
Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young
monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a
parent. --Robertson.
4. An ancestor, or one who precedes in genealogy or degrees
of kindred; a relative in the ascending line; a
progenitor; -- opposed to descendant. --Ayliffe.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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