Found 2 items, similar to ascendant.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: ascendant 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] n 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]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Ascendant Ascendant \As*cend"ant\, Ascendent \As*cend"ent\, a. 1. Rising toward the zenith; above the horizon. [1913 Webster] The constellation . . . about that time ascendant. --Browne. [1913 Webster] 2. Rising; ascending. --Ruskin. [1913 Webster] 3. Superior; surpassing; ruling. [1913 Webster] An ascendant spirit over him. --South. [1913 Webster] The ascendant community obtained a surplus of wealth. --J. S. Mill. [1913 Webster] Without some power of persuading or confuting, of defending himself against accusations, . . . no man could possibly hold an ascendent position. --Grote. [1913 Webster] Ascendant \As*cend"ant\, n. [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr. of ascendere.] 1. Ascent; height; elevation. [R.] [1913 Webster] Sciences that were then in their highest ascendant. --Temple. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 3. Superiority, or commanding influence; ascendency; as, one man has the ascendant over another. [1913 Webster] Chievres had acquired over the mind of the young monarch the ascendant not only of a tutor, but of a parent. --Robertson. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]