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“Descendant” or “Descendent”

descendant / descendent are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term.

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Definitions

What each term means

Same sound, different spellings and meanings, shown with a pronunciation guide for each term.

descendant d·ih·s·EH·n·d·ah·n·t

  • nouna person considered as descended from some ancestor or race.
  • adjectivegoing or coming down.
  • adjectiveproceeding by descent from an ancestor.

descendent d·ih·s·EH·n·d·ah·n·t

No dictionary entry for this spelling — see the usage examples below for how it shows up in writing.

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“descendant”

  • …is popular among Italian and descendant of Italians from his native…
  • Descendant in the male line of…
  • …1965 to 1977, a Qajar descendant on his maternal side
  • …inherited by the eldest male descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah.
  • Arvasi was a descendant of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad,…
  • …earlier confrontations between a Sayyid (descendant of Muhammad) and the Jews…
  • …Rondy Fur Auction - the descendant of the original fur trade…
  • …of Machadodorp, is recognized by descendant groups to be the first…
  • …royal family, making Lucky his descendant.
  • According to a descendant, George Miller, who wrote extensively…

“descendent”

No example sentences found for this spelling.

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions are drawn from WordNet.

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