| descendant | |
| 1. adj. descending from a biological ancestor. | |
| 2. adj. proceeding from a figurative ancestor or source. | |
| 3. n. (literally) One who is the progeny of a specified person, at any distance of time or through any number of generations. | |
| The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild. | |
| 4. n. (figuratively) A thing that derives directly from a given precursor or source. | |
| This famous medieval manuscript has many descendants. | |
| 5. n. (biology) A later evolutionary type. | |
| Dogs evolved as descendants of early wolves. | |
| 6. n. (linguistics) A language that is descended from another. | |
| English and Scots are the descendants of Old English. | |
| 7. n. (linguistics) A word or form in one language that is descended from a counterpart in an ancestor language. | |
