c. 1300, from Old French descente "descent, descendance, lineage," formed from descendre (see descend) on analogy of French nouns such as attente from attendre "to expect," vente "sale" from vendre "to sell," pente "slope" from pendre "to hang" (the etymological English word from Latin would be *descence).
Figurative use is from late 14c. Meaning "action of descending," also "a downward slope" is from 1590s. Meaning "act of descending from an ancestor" is from mid-14c. Evolutionary sense is from 1859 in Darwin, though there are uses which suggest essentially the same thing going back to 1630s.
雙語例句
1. When entering a trail or starting a descent, yield to other skiers.
進入滑雪道或開始下滑時，要給其他滑雪者讓路。
來自柯林斯例句
2. The plane began its descent to Heathrow.
飛機開始向希思羅機場降落。
來自《權威詞典》
3. The marriage was considered especially ignominious since she was of royal descent.
由于她出身王族,這門婚事被認為是奇恥大辱.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
4. We watched anxiously during her descent from the tree.
我們焦急地看著她從樹上爬下來.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
5. The descent of the mountain took nearly two hours.