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PlainSpell

descent

/dəˈsɛnt/noun

descent is spelled D-E-S-C-E-N-T: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “descent vs dissent” about 140 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, descent means “An instance of descending; act of coming down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of descent is descents.

How many letters and syllables are in descent?

Letters7: D-E-S-C-E-N-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.5 times per million words; the 7,910th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is descent?

Descent appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce descent?

  • UK /dɪˈsɛnt/
  • US /dəˈsɛnt/
  • US /dɪˈsɛnt/

Descent has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-descent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with descent

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

descent vs dissent140 G

Sounds like: dissent (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with descent?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as descent from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnt/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: scented.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of descent

  • descents plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does descent mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An instance of descending; act of coming down.

    We climbed the mountain with difficulty, but the descent was easier.

  2. 2

    A way down.

    We had difficulty in finding the correct descent.

  3. 3

    A sloping passage or incline.

    The descent into the cavern was wet and slippery.

  4. 4

    Lineage or hereditary derivation.

    Our guide was of Welsh descent.

  5. 5

    A drop to a lower status or condition; decline.

    After that, the holiday went into a steep descent.

  6. 6

    A falling upon or invasion.

  7. 7

    A particular extension of the idea of gluing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate descent?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of descent: EDL, desc.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Descent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdescente (instance of descending), origine, ascendance (lineage or hereditary derivation)
GermanAbstieg, Runterweg (instance of descending), Herkunft (lineage or hereditary derivation), Weg nach unten (way down)
Portuguesedescida, descimento (instance of descending), declive, ladeira (way down)
Spanishdescenso (instance of descending), ascendencia, origen, abolengo (lineage or hereditary derivation), bajada (way down)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does descent come from?

From Middle English and Anglo-Norman descente, from Anglo-Norman descendre (“to descend”); see descend. Compare ascent, ascend. Doublet of desant.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after descent