descending
UK[dɪˈsendɪŋ]US[dɪˈsendɪŋ]
adj
Moving or sloping downwards.
adj
(of a musical scale) going down from a higher to a lower pitch.
Morpheme Breakdown
de
scend
ing
de
down
scend
climb
ing
adjective suffix
Etymology
The word "descending" originates from the Latin verb descendere, a compound of the prefix de- (meaning "down") and the verb scandere (meaning "to climb"). This literal combination, "to climb down," was adopted into Old French as descendre before entering Middle English. The present participle suffix -ing, of Germanic origin, was added to form the adjective. Thus, the modern abstract meaning of moving from a higher to a lower position retains the core logic of its ancient components: a downward-directed motion.
Analysis
Structure: de (down) + scend (climb) + ing (adjective suffix)
de: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "down" or "away from".
scend: Latin origin, from the root scandere, meaning "to climb".
ing: Old English origin, a suffix forming present participles and adjectives from verbs.
Examples
The plane began its descending path towards the runway.
Please arrange the numbers in descending order from largest to smallest.
She played a beautiful descending melody on the flute.